Soul Searcher
by BleedingFlames
Summary: "Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting" -Peter Pan
1. Fall of the Damned

**Hi everyone! Please check my profile for a letter to my readers:)**

**By the way...chapter titles follow the show's rule in episode naming. It's all named after a piece of art:) **

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned Switched at Birth, there would be loads more BEMMETT, a lot of DILKIE, Daphne being less of a bitch and the new season would be up tonight. But sadly, I don't. **

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><p><strong>BAY<strong>

I was painting, my usual activity every afternoon. I used to hang out with Emmett but he was at the festival and since me and Daphne weren't on speaking terms , I occupied my days with school, homework, music and art. Things were still tense around the household with the whole Regina, Angelo and the lawsuit drama. I usually tried to stay out of my parents way by practically living in my studio. It paid off, anyway. I didn't have to listen to their arguments.

Right now, I was painting a vivid dream I had the night before. The dream was full of loud splashes of colors with a few tints of dark ones. It was so passionate and felt so real that I had woken up at eight a.m. to head down to my garage without even taking a shower or eating breakfast. I had quickly chosen the colors and grabbed the first blank canvas and clean paintbrushes I saw and started to recreate my dream. I took a break around 12 for some much needed caffeine and pasta after my mom, Kathryn, came in and demanded that i eat.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I placed my paintbrush inside an old jar filled with murky water and different-sized paintbrushes. I grabbed my paint-splattered blue rug and used it to clean my hands. I saw that Emmett was the one who texted me and instantly felt the corners of my mouth turn up in a smile. How could this boy do this to me? Make me smile as if everything was alright with just one simple glance at his name? He really was special and what I felt for him was nothing like what I felt when I was with Liam or Ty. It was as if Emmett was the wings that could make me soar higher yet the gravity that always pulled me back to reality.

_Miss you already_. The text read.

_Miss you too. When are you coming home?_

The text came back almost instantly. _Leaving the festival now. Loading up the car with the gear. Toby says we'll be there in five hours if there's no traffic. Can't wait to see my beautiful girlfriend._ I bit my lip as a furious blush crept up to my cheeks. How could I get so lucky with a guy like Emmett? I could almost imagine his sultry James Dean smirk that had the power to melt me and anything within a five-mile radius of us.

We texted a few more times until I persuaded Emmett to sleep. He agreed thankfully with promises to text me at once when he woke up or was near Mission Hills, whichever came first. I put my phone back in my pocket and retied my hair into a messy ponytail. I knew I should clean up since I looked like shit with paint all over myself but I was too absorbed in my painting. I wanted to finish it before the boys were here so that Emmett could see it right away and give me his thoughts. He understood me in a way nobody ever did. He could get my art and he didn't judge me over it either. He even appreciated Axe Girl when most people thought it was just some piece of trashy graffiti that ruined the clean look of Mission Hills.

I had only managed a few strokes when there came a knock on my door. I grunted my approval and it opened to reveal a slim, tall girl with strawberry blonde hair. Daphne's face was hard and emotionless, her hands stuck deep into her pockets and her hair into a ponytail. In the bright sunlight coming from the open door, I could clearly see that Daphne looked like Kathryn with hints of John's strong, prominent features. A dull ache throbbed in my chest when I realized that I was the only one who didn't really belong in their world of a perfect white family with blonde hair and blue eyes. I tried to push that thought away.

"Hey," I said neutrally, forcing myself to keep my anger in check. It would do me no good to blow up at her right now. Mom and Dad and even Regina would always side against me anyway. Always. Nobody could get mad at Daphne Paloma Vasquez because she was Little Miss Perfect. They, however, could yell all they want at Bay Madeline Kennish because she was the problem freak who always wanted the attention from anyone. She was Little Miss Drama Queen. Even Liam confirmed that and although Bay always had a snappy comeback, she was fragile in the inside. She had feelings too but seemed to either notice or care.

"I came to talk to you about Emmett," Daphne said and signed, straight to the point.

"If you've come to force me into breaking up with him or convince me that you're perfect for him since you know him better and all that shit...the door's that way," My reply was snarky and I didn't even bother to sign. I was certain that my signs couldn't match the same amount of anger evident in my voice. Besides, I wanted to give Daphne a hard time reading my lips.

"Why do you like him so much?" Daphne's voice shook. "You two don't even have anything in common, besides your art and apparent love for leather jackets. You're not even deaf and you suck at signing. Your communication is a hopeless game of charades. You don't and never will know him the way I do."

"There's this magical thing we're doing called 'getting-to-know-each-other.' You might wanna try it sometimes with Wilkie instead of getting him drunk and nearly doing the nasty with him in the back of his car.' I crossed my arms and stuck out my chin. Icicles dripped from my words.

She bristled and I enjoyed the fact that I had made her uncomfortable with what I had said about her and Wilkie.

"And how much of 'getting-to-know-each-other' are you going to do before you break his heart? I know him like the back of my hand and if it weren't for me, you two wouldn't be together, let alone know each other.' Daphne's words were like a scalpel, cutting me inside. I wanted to be angry but I couldn't. There was so much truth to her words that I settled on cocking an eyebrow and keeping silent instead. She continued with her rant, however.

"Why are you taking away the one person I could always rely on? We were already friends, Bay! Why would you ruin that? You already forced me to break up with Liam, you took away Ty who is practically my older brother and now Emmett? How low can you go in trying to steal everything away from me? And even Angelo. You know I don't want him here yet you still continue to see him just to piss me off," Daphne broke off, panting, her face flushed red. Her hands were numb from signing too aggressively and with so much force. Her throat hurt from speaking too much. A few stray strands of her hair had escaped from her ponytail, sticking to her sweaty face.

I stared at her straight in the eye. "I'm sorry about Liam, okay? It was a really stupid and childish thing for me to do. And Ty's gone now and I don't even know if I really loved him back then or it was just some silly schoolgirl infatuation and my need for something to anchor myself too. I'm not seeing Angelo just to annoy you. I'm seeing him because I need to know what I could have been like if we hadn't been switched. If all this crap wouldn't have happened. You get all that because my family is of freaking nice and accepted you right from the beginning. They already loved you and because of that, I always feel like I'm the odd one out. I can't take Regina's word because I'm not even sure if I fully trust her. And about Emmett? Do you ever think, just for a second, that there's someone out there who needs to hold on to something just to keep them sane?"

"And it had to be Emmett?" I looked away at what Daphne said. "It couldn't be some classmate of yours or someone you met at a coffee shop? This isn't over, Bay. I wasted eight years of my life having Emmett only as a friend. I'm not about to lose him to you."

"Ooooh, I'm quaking in my boots! I'm so scared I could pee. I'm so terrified at what you're going to do that I'm just going to break up with him," My words dripped with sarcasm. I rolled my eyes. "The door's over there,"

My attention drifted back to my painting and I only looked up when I heard the door slam. I sighed and put down my paintbrush, cleaning myself up in the sink at the back of my studio. It was futile now to continue my painting. The recent fight with Daphne had wiped away my inspiration and creative juices, releasing a few tears as well. I was spent.

I collapsed on my very comfortable orange beanbag and stuck my earphones in my ears, putting my iPod on shuffle. I turned up the volume as My Medicine by The Pretty Reckless began. The first beats filled my body as my eardrums vibrated. I closed my eyes and gradually fell asleep.

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><p><strong>Every person who reviews will get a nice, virtual chocolate chip cookie!<strong>

**Seriously...please review! Thanks!**

**Twitter: KAYLAA15_ Tumblr: maniacpyro Formspring: HeyyyItssMe**

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	2. Forward Retreat

**Thank you so much to kittenamos, Madi and XRNx who are my first 3 reviewers! You guys get a virtual chocolate chip cookie each! I forgot to tell you that Daphne's the one who baked it so it would probably blow your minds away ;)**

**Just a few clarifications:**

**BOLD: SIGNING  
><em>BOLD ITALICS: SIGNING WHILE SPEAKING<br>_**_ITALICS: THOUGHTS (or in this case, there's a letter that's italicized)  
><em>'_ITALICS WITH QUOTES': TEXT MESSAGES_

**Anyway, onwards to Chapter 2!**

**DISCLAIMER: When I manage to get abc to sell me Switched at Birth...I will become a full-time cast member as Bay's long-lost-now-found sister or Wilkie's adopted sister:)) **

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><p><strong>Emmett<strong>

The East-West Festival was the definition of awesome. Music so loud, the beats throbbed in my body; sweaty bodies dancing; the pure rush of adrenaline as Guitar Face played and people screamed their appreciation. There was nothing like it and I enjoyed every moment of it, except maybe the time when Wilkie had bet Toby that I would flirt with a couple of girls before going back home. Toby had won 150 dollars. Wilkie didn't know that I was taken and I, unlike him, would be faithful to my girl.

I woke up from my sleep as we were a mile away from Mission Hills. I yawned and stretched, noticing that Wilkie was sprawled out on the front seat with his mouth hanging open. When I saw that Toby was looking at me from the rearview mirror, I got a brilliant idea. Putting a finger to my lips, I gestured silently at the sleeping Wilkie. Toby's eyes were full of confusion but my prank dawned on him as I took out my camera and snapped a picture of the very stupid-looking Wilkie. I would be using it for blackmail in the future.

The sun had already set and a couple of stars had already sprinkled the darkening sky. I was fidgeting since I couldn't wait to see Bay again. I was going crazy without my girl. I always wondered what she was doing at the moment. I hoped that she had a new painting to show me. I was always amazed at the depth of her painting. It was no sloppy, amateurish work. There was real passion and talent. I could spend days inside her studio analyzing her work and thinking what she was possibly feeling when she had painted that.

The car approached the Mission Hills sign and Toby shook Wilkie awake. I took out my phone and typed a new message to Bay.

_'Nearing the house already. Can't wait to see you'_

She didn't reply, however, and that only made me eager to see her.

The Kennish Mansion was soon in view and I felt like doing a happy dance and sprinting out of the car and into Bay's arms. The familiar greenery and shrubs were there and I could see Bay's garage from here. I wondered if she was there.

The Thing's loud engine brought everybody out of the house and we were soon greeted by the entire Kennish and Vasquez clan although I was a little disappointed not to find Bay there. When the car stopped, Kathryn and John hugged Toby while he blushed and tried to push them away resulting in Wilkie doubling up in laughter and Adrianna smacking the back of his head. I smiled at Daphne and walked over to her hoping that she had forgotten about the kiss we had shared back at the car wash. I hadn't told Bay about that yet and the guilt was already killing me.

**Where's Bay? **I signed, looking around for her. Wilkie was being hugged by Kathryn and Toby was in Regina's arms. When he saw me looking at him, he mouthed 'HELP ME'. All I could do was stick out my tongue at him and laugh.

**You've only been here for five seconds and you already want to see Bay? How about your best friend first? **Daphne was smiling but I could see right through her. She had meant it as a joke but it didn't come out that way. She was genuinely hurt that I would put Bay before my best friend. Guilt came crashing down onto me and I gave her a big hug. She grinned at me and pointed to the garage. **She's probably in there. She was in her studio the last time I saw her. **Daphne's face hardened but I was too preoccupied with the thought of seeing Bay again to really care much. I strode towards Bay's studio and knocked. After a few seconds of waiting for an answer that would never come, I just turned the doorknob and stepped inside.

The first thing I noticed was the new painting standing at the center of the studio. Although it was unfinished, it was very beautiful. Large, bold strokes in loud colors and tiny, wavy patterns of dark colors weaving in and out of the bright ones. It was as if a professional had done it instead of Bay.

The second thing I noticed was Bay sitting on her beanbag, her hair all over her face, fast asleep. Her clothes were splattered with paint and even her hands and face bore faded marks of colors. She looked so serene and peaceful that I didn't want to disturb her. I walked silently towards her and brushed the hair off her face. When she didn't stir, I took out my camera and took a picture of her and another of me making a funny face next to her sleeping form. Sleeping Bay was so different from the sarcastic yet well-meaning Bay I spent time with. Sleeping Bay looked so problem-free and I wanted to have a picture that would let me always see what Bay looked like if she didn't have any hardships coming her way.

I gently tapped her shoulder and her eyes flew open. She sat up straight, almost knocking into me. Okay…maybe not such a good idea to stand so close to her when she woke up.

_**Emmett? **_She signed and spoke at the same time. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched.

**Hey babe. I texted you that we were near your house but you didn't reply. I thought that you were just busy or something.**__I continued to stroke her hair as she checked her phone.

_**Oh crap, I'm so sorry. **_Bay signed the words she knew frantically, her forehead creased into a frown. _**I was up since morning painting and I was just so tired that I fell asleep.**_

**It's okay. I'm glad you got some sleep. You were probably very tired after painting that piece. **I pointed to the one I saw earlier. **Wait…that's what you were painting, right?**

_**Yeah…you like?**_ She asked shyly, looking up at me to judge my reaction.

**It's beautiful, just like you.**I kissed her forehead and helped her up. **Now come on, your family's probably waiting for you. **

We walked towards the door when I stopped causing bay to bump into me. I turned around and gave her my smirk, the one she said I looked hot in, which I didn't really believe. I always thought I looked stupid when I smirked but since Bay liked it, I figured I didn't look so stupid.

_**What is it?**_ Bay asked curiously

**Oh nothing…It's just that I forgot to do something.** With that, I leaned forward and tilted my head. I placed my hands on her waist and kissed her. When our lips touched, it felt as if electricity had run all over my body. My hands ran up and down her spine, losing themselves in Bay's wavy hair. Her arms encircled my neck and pulled me closer. Our lips moved in synchronization. I knew every surface of her lips and every spot in her mouth. I kissed her in the spot in her neck, which I knew she liked best. I felt her throat vibrate with giggles and she pulled away.

_**My mom's calling us for dinner. **_She explained to my confused expression. _**Besides, I don't want your mother walking in on us. She might…hate me more.**_

**She doesn't hate you.**I protested as she led me out, our fingers still entwined and my mouth still tingling from our kiss. **She just needs some time to adjust with me dating a hearing girl. **

_**Yeah, right and Daphne eats meat and the moon is made of cream cheese. **_

**What are you talking about?** I missed her sense of humor.

She gave me a look, her deep brown eyes straight into my blue ones. _**I thought we were naming things that would never happen in a million years.**_

I shook my head and put my arm around her shoulders. **Trust me...She will warm up to you. **

We reached the front door and she pushed it open. Regina and my mom were talking in the foyer, signing quickly. Their conversation was about Angelo but they stopped when they saw me and Bay. I saw Mom go over Bay's paint-splattered appearance and shake her head. I bit my lip and tried to ignore her.

_**Uhh…I'll just go upstairs to change.**_ Bay quickly said and signed, clearly hurt by my mom's expression. Before I could even protest, she had disappeared upstairs.

**_I'll leave you two to talk._ **Regina said knowingly, following Bay to her room.

**So…**My mom came towards me and started the conversation. **Daphne looks pretty tonight.**

**So does Bay.** I argued, crossing my arms. I already knew where this conversation was going. Mom would try to persuade me to break up with _hearing _Bay and date _deaf _Daphne instead. I would then say no and she would proceed to talk about the statistics of hearing and deaf relationships. I would then continue on to say no and she would become so exasperated that she would finally leave, with one last attempt to convince me to go out with Daphne. We had this conversation a thousand times since she had met Bay.

**I don't get why you would find a scowling, dirty, paint-splattered girl beautiful. Look at Daphne…her clothes are clean, her hair is fixed and she smiles at everything. Compare her with Bay and she seems like a better option. Besides, you two have known each other forever. You've known Bay for what? A week?**

I forced myself to keep my anger inside me. Mom would only ground me if I exploded in front of her and I would have to sneak out to see Bay, leading Mom to finding out and getting even more convinced that Bay was a bad influence on her only son. **First of all, there is so much to Bay that you don't know. She's really trying to get you to like her yet you don't even make an effort. Second of all, I've known Daphne since I was eight and I've known Bay for about 3 months. Third of all, Daphne is just a friend now and Bay's my girlfriend. Please try to understand.**

With that, I stalked off towards the kitchen leaving my exasperated mom behind me. Kathryn and Daphne were cooking while Regina was setting the table. John, Wilkie and Toby were nowhere to be found. I asked Regina if I could help and she gratefully said yes, telling me that I could grab the salads and place them on the table. When I asked her where the guys were, she rolled her eyes and said that they were in the living room, watching a football game.

The kitchen door swung open and I saw Bay in a dark blouse and a dark purple skirt. Her hair was tied up and her lips were shining. She was absolutely ethereal and it took my breath away. I saw at once that she was nervous though and she signed to me, asking me if we could talk. I followed her out of the kitchen and outside, by the pool. My mom was nowhere to be found.

The underwater lights made the pool a light blue and it reflected off Bay as well, making her seem paler. The moonlight fell across her face and her brown eyes sparkled although there was worry evident all over her face.

**What is it? **I signed and mouthed, tangling our hands together.

_**Do I look okay? I mean, I saw your mom's face when I walked in and I just wanted to know if I looked alright for her. I don't want her to think I'm always dirty and…**_She trailed off. I was impressed how quickly she signed now. She knew more signs and she was already semi-fluent. She must have been practicing while I was gone.

**You. Look. Stunning. **I signed and leaned towards her again. Our lips had just barely touched when she pulled away again. I pouted and she smiled at me, brushing her hand against my cheek. I caught her hand just as she was going to let it drop to her side and held it to my face, smiling into her palm. My heartbeat picked up when her smile grew wider.

_**I don't want my lip gloss to get smudged. **_She explained, laughing at my expression. She pulled me back inside and closed the sliding door.

**You are such a girl.** It took her a moment to understand what I said and when she did, she smacked my shoulder. I jumped out of her way and she nearly fell down. Luckily, I caught her before she hit the ground and she tried to glare at me but miserably failed. I stuck out my tongue at her before leading her back to the dining room.

God, she looked beautiful.

**~~~~~VV~~~~~**

**BAY**

The table was set for nine people and judging from the scent that was coming from the kitchen, nobody would be going home hungry tonight. Emmett wrapped his hands around my waist and nuzzled my neck and I sighed contentedly. He hurriedly dropped his arms, however, when Regina came in from the kitchen, smirking at us. I still didn't completely trust her but I had decided to be nice to her. I didn't want to be angry with my birth mom forever. She was only thinking of me and Daphne but it still hurt that she would choose her over her biological daughter.

_**Don't think I didn't catch that.**_ She both spoke and signed, for Emmett's benefit. _**Bay, I love your skirt. It looks gorgeous on you. She looks very beautiful, doesn't she Emmett?**_

**Very beautiful. **Emmett signed, looking proud. I couldn't help but smile as he buried his face in my hair, not caring that Regina was in the room and our families were only a few rooms away.

"Uh, thanks you guys," I didn't accept compliments too easily from other people. With Emmett, however…I always knew that he would be telling the truth.

"AND DINNER IS SERVED!" My mom yelled out as everybody filed into the dining room. Emmett went to sit beside his mother and I sat down between Toby and Daphne. Daphne and I were trying very hard to be civil to each other in public but we spoke with a frigid politeness. The tension between us was so thick that you could cut it with an axe, but nobody even noticed. Except, maybe Emmett. He looked at us and frowned but thankfully dropped it.

"Bay, could you please pass the mashed potatoes," Daphne's voice oozed with fake politeness. Two could play at this game.

"Of course, my dear Daphne. Help yourself." I passed her the bowl of mashed potatoes and she smiled at me, the grin not quite reaching her eyes. I saw Mom's eyebrows shoot up and she and Regina exchanged a glance.

"Thank you, darling Bay," Daphne's foot gnashed my toe underneath the table.

"Anything for you, Daphne," I gritted my teeth and pinched her elbow.

It was going to be a long dinner.

**~~~~~VV~~~~~**

**TY**

I missed her. I missed everything about Bay Kennish. I missed her wavy, dark hair. I missed her rosy pink lips. I missed her light brown eyes that always managed to make me lose my words whenever I stared into them. I would sell my soul just to spend another day with her. Our letters were vague, never hinting at what we had before I left for the army. Take this last one for example:

_Dear Ty,_

_ Everything's good. Just failing in Biology, painting some new stuff and trying to get out of everybody's way. We had vegetable goulash last night thanks to Daphne.  
>I know you said that the food there sucks but I would rather eat what they serve the army than the VERY DELICIOUS goulash.<br>__Mom and Dad raved about it, of course. They looked really proud that Daphne ate healthy.  
>Thank God Toby snuck in some KFC a little while later.<br>If you survive training camp, I'll make sure to send you some of those goulash as a little reward (or maybe some additional torture?)_

_-Bay_

I missed her sarcasm and her humor. Every night, my dreams were laced with a certain dark haired beauty with alabaster skin and whose hands could create the most wonderful pieces of art. I knew that leaving her and only notifying her about it three days beforehand were pretty low but I still hoped that she would give me a second chance.

"Tyler Mendoza!" I jumped up as Commander Jameson approached me.

"Yes sir?" I saluted. Nine weeks into the training camp and I still had trouble submitting to authority. It was getting better now, though. My first day here, the Commander had made me clean toilets with a toothbrush because I didn't address him as 'sir'. Let's just say that military boys aren't really concerned about the state of cleanliness of their comfort rooms. I still shudder at the memory.

"Your nine weeks in training is up. You'll have two weeks to get back home before you're sent to war. You leave in three days. Understood?" He didn't wait for my answer. "Dismissed." One thing the Commander absolutely loved was disappearing quickly.

Two weeks back in Mission Hills…That meant I could see Bay again and correct all my wrongs! I was whistling inside as I grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and a pen. Writing quickly, I jotted down a reply to Bay's last letter.

_Bay,_

_ You might be seeing me sooner than you think. And you might also be getting to force feed me that goulash you were talking about soon.  
>Commander Jameson dismissed me for two weeks.<br>I can leave in three days and be back in Mission Hills for two weeks before I'm sent off to war. I hope I make sense.  
>I can't really wait to see you. Any chance of recovering what we had before I left?<br>I know I sound like a total ass right now but I really miss you. I can't wait to see you. _

_Love, Ty_

I WAS GOING TO SEE BAY AGAIN!


	3. Massacre of the Innocents

**Hey guys! I just wanted to say to thanks to the people who have been reviewing especially kittenamos and Madi. But still, I'm pretty disappointed by the lack of reviews:( Oh well…beggars can't be choosers.**

**If you have any ideas that you think could be added to this story…PM me! And if you can't, just contact me through my tumblr, formspring and twitter. It's all listed down in my profile!**

**And by the way, I don't know if Jackson's first name is really Jackson or it's his last name so I just made it his first name here and gave him a last name:)**

**DISCLAIMER: I'm going to ask for the rights to Switched at Birth for my birthday. But until then…I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!**

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><p><strong>BAY<strong>

Dinner was finished and I was helping Mom wash the dishes. The others were in the den, watching Deafenstein. Toby and my dad were cringing at the movie since it really sucked. Wilkie, though, was surprisingly enjoying it. Last time I peeked, Emmett and Daphne were sitting side by side, finishing off the actor's signs and having their own inside jokes. It hurt me because deep inside, I knew that Daphne was right. I would never know Emmett the way she knew him. I began to have doubts in my relationship with him and I tried to push those dark thoughts away from my mind, resulting in me nearly dropping the plate that I was currently cleaning.

"Is everything alright, Bay?" My Mom asked worriedly. I wanted to tell her that everything was fine, that nothing was wrong but one look from her face persuaded me otherwise. She was genuinely worried about me and I felt guilty that I often shut her out of my life. I didn't even tell her about my break-up with Liam!

I sighed and put down the towel. "I'm just really worried, Mom. I mean...me and Emmett are dating but-"

"You and Emmett are dating?" Mom interrupted. Oops, I guess I forgot to mention this little tidbit. I nodded bashfully and she took a deep breath. "It's just really unexpected, you know…"

"You always thought he'd end up with Daphne?" I said bitterly. I knew I hit a nerve when Mom flushed.

"Of course not, honey! It's just that…I'm really surprised, that's all. Now what were you saying awhile ago about Daphne?" Mom was clearly flustered but she still put down the utensils she had been washing and looked at me.

I took a deep breath, readying myself for the rant that I was going to give her. "Daphne realized that she loves Emmett as more than a friend and she swore that she would never lose him to me but I love him too and I would never break up with him. But Daphne's kinda right in saying that she has a lot of history with Emmett and I remember Regina saying that history always wins, based on her experienced. I don't really want to fight with Daphne or another war cropping up between all of us but I'm also in love with Emmett," I broke off, my eyes watering. To my frustration, tears began to fall down my cheeks. Mom gathered me in her arms and held me while I cried. I buried my face in her shoulder, just like I did when I was younger. She smelled of jasmine and honeysuckle, a scent that never failed to remind me that I was safe and protected. "I'm just really confused right now, Mom" My voice was muffled.

"Oh, sweetheart…" she murmured, "You are my daughter and not even a DNA test can tell me otherwise. I raised you to become a strong and good-hearted woman and I know that you will do the right thing," Her words made me cry harder because it proved to me that although my Mom would bond with Daphne and side with her during arguments, she would always love me and nothing could ever break the bond we had formed over the years.

We stayed like that for a few more moments, me in my mom's arms and Mom stroking my hair. I finally pulled away and wiped my face with a piece of tissue she had handed to me. I went upstairs to take a hot shower since I didn't want anyone seeing my tear-stained face and asking questions.

The hot shower proved fruitful. It relaxed me, loosening up my tense muscles. I stood there for quite some time, just letting the hot water run all over my body. When I was relaxed enough, I wrapped myself in a big, fluffy towel and dressed myself in a pair of my boxer shorts and an oversized shirt, my usual bedtime attire. I booted my laptop and went to a site that had pictures of paintings all over the world. I clicked on the works of Edgar Degas and immersed myself in his calm strokes that mostly depicted ballerinas. I found that looking at paintings always calmed my mind down.

I was startled by a tap on my shoulder. I whipped my head around to find Emmett standing behind me, his hair in a wild disarray and his hands deep in his pockets.

**You okay?** He signed, concern evident on his face.

I gave him a small sign. _**Of course…I just took another shower. Had to…clear my mind.**_

He bent down and I felt his lips brush my forehead. I felt a tingling sensation run down from the spot where he had kissed me all the way down to my toes. Daphne's angry face and my mom's steadfast belief that I would do the right thing flashed in my mind and I pulled away before Emmett's lips could reach mine. His confused and hurt expression made me want to tell him everything and I almost did but I chickened out.

_**I'm sorry…I'm just…just…really tired.**_ I signed lamely. His confused expression cleared for a moment and he nodded his head.

**Good night, Bay. See you tomorrow.** He grinned at me and gave me a small kiss on my forehead. He walked out of my room, looking back at me and waving when he got to the hallway.

I wanted to cry and reach out to him, convince him to hold me close…make me forget this whole nightmare crap. I wanted him to assure me that nothing was going on between him and Daphne.

But all I could do was watch him go away and let the confused tears fall once he was gone.

My phone vibrated just as I was readying for bed. I was so sure that it was Emmett so I was surprised when I saw that it was one of the dumb girl from my class, Clover Chamberlain.

'_We need to talk, pronto. Meet me tomorrow at lunch in the library. Ciao –Clover'_

I texted out my reply, annoyed. Clover was the gossip-slash-drama Queen of Buckner Hall. She always knew the latest gossip and was always worrying about her appearance. She was also the dumbest girl and the sluttiest one. If the only thing she was going to tell me was the latest thing going on between Adam Locke and his on and off girlfriend, Heather Meade…I was going to stab this Clover bitch in the back with her five-inch stilletos.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**KATHRYN**

I was making Belgian strawberry waffles when Toby and Bay came down. They were both groggy from sleep and still wearing their pajamas. I smiled at them as they sat down, Bay quickly putting down her head on the table and Toby rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning," I said cheerily, sliding two waffles on each of their plates. I poured orange juice in their glasses and watched as Toby attacked his food while Bay picked on hers.

A noise came down from the hall and I walked quickly towards it, noticing that it was a bunch of mail and a large brown package. I gathered the stuff up and walked to the kitchen, placing the newly received mail on the countertop.

"What is it, Mom?" Toby asked, already gobbling up his second waffle.

"It's a pet unicorn for us, Toby. It's mail, what does it look like?" Bay said snappishly. She had never been a morning person and I smothered a laugh as Toby rolled his eyes.

I skimmed through the envelopes and noticed that one was for Bay in Ty's handwriting, dated two days ago. I handed this to her and saw her eyes widen. She put down her fork and ripped open the letter.

"Whose that package from?" Toby asked, gesturing with his fork to the package.

I looked at the return address. "Its from your grandmother,"

"Nana Adele?" Bay asked excitedly. Nana Adele was John's mother and Bay's favorite grandma seeing that she was also Nana Adele's favorite. She had always showered Bay with expensive gifts and had supported her with her art. She even had one of Bay's best paintings hanging in her house.

I slit the package open using a pair of kitchen scissors and hid my laughter as I saw what was inside. Nana Adele was an avid knitter and I had a feeling that Toby wouldn't like what she had knitted for him.

"Bay…your Nana knitted you a…beanie!" I flourished the black and purple beanie, handing it to Bay. She squealed in delight and put it on top of her messy hair.

"Oh my gosh! Nana's the best!"

"And for Toby…a scarf!" Bay and I laughed at Toby's horrified face. The scarf was brown and pink, colors that Toby absolutely hated. Toby had drawn a portrait in permanent marker on Nana's walls when he was six as revenge since Nana hadn't given him extra helpings of ice cream. Nana hadn't completely forgiven him for that and that story had always cropped up during Kennish familyl reunions.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Toby grumbled, grabbing the scarf from me and racing upstairs.

"Bay, what was in the letter? I know that it's from Ty…" I asked curiously

"Oh you know…just the usual. He's coming to Mission Hills tomorrow," Bay said nonchalantly

"Well that doesn't sound like the usual," I commented, eating a small piece of a waffle.

"Yeah but you know…he's going to be here for two weeks…"

"So what are you going to do about Emmett?" I asked, giving her a small smile.

"What do you mean, Mom?"

"I have a feeling that Emmett's not going to like the fact that your ex-boyfriend is back and town and wanting to catch up and Ty's not going to like Emmett as well…assuming you told him about you and Emmett." Judging from Bay's bashful expression, she didn't tell Ty about her and Emmett.

"Okay, since when did you become Dr. Love?" Bay asked sarcastically. "I'm going upstairs now, Mom," Bay grabbed the letter and her beanie and went upstairs. I smiled at the retreating back of my beautiful daughter.

This was going to be an interesting two weeks…

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**CLOVER**

I was in English class, the most boring class ever invented. Mr. Simmons was blabbing on and on about Shakespeare. Honestly, who the heck is interested in a guy that wrote a bunch of stuff you couldn't even understand? On top of that, he died, what? A thousand years ago? Ugh. Boring!

I glanced at my new hot pink Gucci watch and sighed. Five more minutes until the bell rings and I bet that Mr. Simmons would be giving us homework as usual. Ah well, I'll just get one of the scholarship nerds to do it for me again.

I flipped my long blonde hair and began to expertly arrange my make-up case. I was going to retouch my make-up just before I went to the library to meet up with Bay. I wanted her to feel inferior and insecure when she saw me. She was going to freak the fuck out when she heard my news. And no, it wasn't about some lowlife in our class. It was about her and that deaf guy she was dating. I don't even know what she sees in him. Okay, I admit that he has those fabulous hair and those gorgeous eyes and he rides a motorcycle! Nobody around here rides a motorcycle except for those weird drug addicts but that guy was deaf! And he didn't even speak! How could Bay go from so high to so low in a matter of weeks? I knew about that whole misunderstanding at the hospital but why is Bay so affected? Isn't she glad that she got switched and grew up in a mansion instead of a dirty apartment?

The bell rang and I sighed in relief, gathering my Prada tote bag. I flipped by blonde hair again and began to walk out of the class, not caring about the homework Mr. Simmons was yelling about. It was something about a stupid sonnet in Romeo and Juliet. Read my lips, Mr. Simmons. I. DON'T. GIVE. A. DAMN.

"Hey Clover," Sadie Hamilton, my best friend, said. Sadie is shorter than me with luscious brown hair and green eyes. Whatever, blue eyes are better.

"I was thinking…why don't we get Trent and Jake to get us some sushi at Wong's. I am so sick of the cafeteria food here, aren't you?" Sadie ran a hand through her hair.

"Sorry but I'm meeting Bay. In fact, I need to go get ready. So why don't you skedaz and save me some sushi!" I said bitchily, stopping in front of the Women's Bathroom near the library.

"Why are you meeting Bay Kennish?" Sadie scoffed

"For reasons you wouldn't understand. Now go and save me some sushi," I said, exasperated. Couldn't Sadie get the message?

I swung open the bathroom door to find two freshmen girls. I stared at them in the mirror and they immediately put back their lip-glosses in their pockets and exited the comfort room. I smirked to myself. Nobody could deny the fact that I was the resident Queen Bee in Buckner Hall.

I quickly retouched my lip-gloss and carefully reapplied my powder and eye shadow and pouted my lips at the mirror. I grabbed my tote bag and headed towards the library and sat down at one of the free tables. Ms. McGibbons, the beady-eyed and old librarian with absolutely zero fashion sense, looked surprised to see me. I gave her my best perky smile and plopped down. Mentally, I was puking at what Ms. McGibbons was wearing. A gray cardigan over a white blouse, floral skirt and orthopedic shoes. She could totally use a make over.

After a few minutes, Bay appeared, also looking as if she needed a make over. She was wearing this black and purple beanie and her brown leather jacket. She looked annoyed.

"Get to the point, Clover," She said through gritted teeth as she sat down on the seat across from me.

"Not even a thank you for the time I'm wasting at telling you about this?" I said bitchily. I always hated Bay, ever since third grade. I don't know why but there was just something about her that brought out my inner bitch.

"Just get to the fucking point," Bay said

"It's about your boyfriend…that deafie..." I said that word because I knew that it would piss her off. Sure enough, she glared at me looking as if she could strangle me right there and then. I smirked at her and folded my hands neatly in my lap.

"My boyfriend has a name and it's Emmett," She nearly snarled at me, clenching her hands into fists.

"Yeah, well, I don't care. Point is, my boyfriend and I were having our car washed at their little fundraising thing and I was headed to the bathroom when I saw a little scandal going on. Did he even tell you about it?" I smiled at her, purposely leaving a cliffhanger. I know she wouldn't leave now, she was too curious.

"What scandal?" Bay asked, biting her lip.

"Your boyfriend kissing your deaf sister. The one who nearly set fire to the kitchen? Uh…Delancey? Devon? Deirdre? No, wait, Daphne!" I already knew her name but I just wanted the satisfaction of seeing Bay's pained expression and I got exactly what I was looking for.

"Emmett would never…he would never ever…he wouldn't just…" Bay trailed off, looking unsure of her words.

"Never? Do you want me to send you a picture?" I scoffed and took out my phone. Luckily, I had snapped a juicy picture of that guy sucking face with Daphne. Trent had asked irritated why the heck I took so long going to the bathroom. We had another fight about it back in the car but it was all worth it. I sent the picture to Bay's phone and waited for it to ring. She looked suspiciously at me and checked out the snapshot. Her face slowly fell and I saw her eyes watering. A smile spread across my face and I stood up. My business here was done.

"You're welcome," I said to Bay and smiled prettily at her. I flipped my hair over my shoulder and sauntered off. The library dust was beginning to settle on my make-up and I so did not want to have another retouch.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**EMMETT**

I was a little distracted during school today. Okay, maybe a little wouldn't cut it. I was REALLY distracted. I felt guilty about not telling Bay about the kiss Daphne and I had shared. It's been two weeks now and I'm still a chicken. I'm a guy! I should be brave enough to really tell her what happened. But I was too scared to hurt her. What if she broke up with me? Bay had a tendency to become really jealous and I didn't want that. When she saw my former Wall of Daphne, she had flipped out. This was even worse. She was already my girlfriend when I kissed Daphne. And sure, that kiss had meant nothing to me. I loved Bay but telling her was a problem. I didn't want her to break up with me and it was even worse since Toby had let it slip last night that Ty was coming back to town tomorrow. No, wait...Ty was coming back her TODAY.

**Dude, what's wrong?** My best guy friend, Jackson, signed.

**Nothing. Why would you think that? **I signed nonchalantly. Damn. I forgot that Jackson is an expert on reading body language. And he knew me better than anybody, even Daphne. There are just some intimate things that guys wouldn't tell girls.

**I've been asking you about football for the past five minutes now and you're just staring off into the distance. What's up? **Jackson looked at our teacher, Ms. Mallory, who was still busy signing something about the atoms and their reactions and all that crap. Jackson and I didn't really listen during Biology. We mostly played hangman or passed notes. Today, though, we signed with our hands under the table.

**Oh really? Sorry, man. I'm just too busy thinking.**

**About Bay Kennish?** Jackson was really surprised when I had told him that I had a hearing girlfriend. He knew that I believed hearing and deaf relationships didn't work out 85% of the time. He had eventually warmed up to the idea though and he had been wanting to meet Bay ever since I told him two weeks ago. I didn't really want him to meet. I knew Jackson would be pretty understanding to Bay's limited knowledge of signs but I was actually kind of worried. Jackson was pretty handsome for girls standards (or so Daphne told me). He had dark hair and those soulful dark eyes (again, Daphne's description. Ew, I sound gay all of a sudden). Anyway, I was pretty worried that when Bay and Jackson met...Bay would forget me. Beside Jackson, I looked like Chewbacca.

**Yeah about her**

**What's wrong, man? And I really want to meet her. What's wrong with us meeting? You afraid that she'll fall in love with me and my good lucks and flirtatious charms?** Jackson smirked at me and raised his eyebrows

**With your unibrow, she will never fall in love with you.** I stuck out my tongue at Jackson and winced as he lightly stabbed my hand with his ball pen. I prayed to God that he would just let it go but the universe was working against me today. That or I had been cursed by some weird witch doctor in Tibet.

**So what's up? And don't try to change the subject.**

I looked around to see if somebody was staring at us. Nobody was. They were all too busy signing to each other and sleeping. **Promise not to tell anybody?**

**Dude just cut the crap already. You're beginning to sound like a girl. **Two more things about Jackson, he was impatient and he swore. A lot.

**I kissed Daphne when we were at the car wash just to see how it felt like and I'm scared to tell Bay because she might break up with me and her ex-boyfriend is coming back to town after nine weeks of being in a training camp for the army and the guilt is eating me up and I don't know what to do.** One of the downsides to signing is the paranoia that somebody could be eavesdropping and reading your signs. That's why while I was signing this all to Jackson, I was looking around too.

**You kissed Daphne while you had a girlfriend?** Jackson signed, his face full of disbelief

**Yes I did and I'm not proud of what I did. It meant nothing to me and I don't know if Bay will understand that when I tell her. She can get pretty jealous especially since she knew that I once had a crush on Daphne. And the fact that she believes Daphne's Little Miss Perfect. **

**Dude, you are in deep shit, **Jackson commented. **Never knew you had it in you**

**Will you shut up for a second and help me?** I said exasperatedly

**Mr. Bledsoe, Mr. Halloway...would you care to share your conversation with the rest of us? **Shit. Ms. Mallory had caught us signing to each other. Her face was angry and full of business. As she signed, the entire class stopped signing to each other and woke the sleeping ones. They all stared at us. Ms. Mallory put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

**Detention.**

Detention and on top of that, I had to tell my girlfriend that I had cheated her by kissing my best friend who had once been my long time crush and I also had to persuade Jackson not to meet with Bay and let's not forget that Bay's ex-boyfriend is coming back here.

Fuck.

**Okay so I'm really sorry that this is so short I just wanted you guys to have another one because I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again since it's the holidays and I'm going to New York on the 27****th**** and coming back on the fifth of January. Anyway…I promise a long chapter in case its some days before I can update again. And if you have any suggestions, please tell me because I think I have a case of writer's block coming up **


	4. The False Mirror

**I am so sorry for the late update! America was the awesomest thing ever. I loved every minute of it and I was inspired by a certain Colombian boy in my tour…*wink wink***

**Anyone see the latest episode of Switched at Birth? Unfortunately, I haven't yet Oh well…**

**And HAPPY NEW YEAR guys! This is my late Christmas and New Year's gift to all of you. Hope you like it! Hope you don't send an angry mob with torches and pitchforks after me if it sucked. **

**DISCLAIMER: ****Switched at Birth doesn't belong to me…YET. However, some characters in this story belong to me. ROCK ON!**

**BAY**

I ran through the corridors, my backpack swaying side to side and my heart pounding in my chest. My curls escape their tight clips, sticking to my red and sweaty face. Students stare at me as I rush past but I ignore them. There was only one destination that I was determined to reach.

The Sanctuary

It was a place of horrors. A dark, musty, cordoned off area tucked into one corner of the football field. Chain link fences surround it and big, steel containers blocked its view from the prying eyes of the rest of the school. Most students know it as a place where smokers and drug users gather together to smoke weed and do other sorts of unimaginable stuff. It was taboo for someone to enter it. If you did, you would be isolated from the rest of the high school body and labeled as a troublemaker.

But unknown to most, the Sanctuary was true to its name. It provided a safe haven for the Misfits, the Misunderstood and the people we saw as losers. It was a place where no one would judge you but accept you with open yet tentative arms.

It was a place where you could be yourself and nobody would judge. Where you would be invisible yet part of a group at the same time.

Which was why I was headed there now. I didn't care if I was skipping sixth period and risk being caught. I didn't care if anybody saw me going in and spreading the story. At this point, I didn't really care about me anymore. I was ready to let go and the Sanctuary was the best place to do that.

**DAPHNE**

Basketball practice was grueling. John forced us to practice our dribbling and passing through endless drills. It was worth it, though. Our team was rapidly improving and Principal Waters was seriously considering signing us up for the Women's Inter-School Basketball Tournament. Carlton Academy had never joined that tournament since 1994 wherein our players were discriminated and made fun of for being deaf. It took a serious emotional toll on our players and the principal back then vowed to never participate in the tournament again.

But it was different this time. We had a hearing coach and John instilled in us a strong determination to prove that deaf people were as equal as hearing people. He had told us that since we were deaf, we were naturally stronger and tougher than the people who had the easy life. That strength could be used by us to pave a new path for both deaf and hearing people. A path of hope. A path of new beginnings. A path of acceptance.

I was proud to call John my biological father. He had revived our spirits and taught us to play as more of a team and less as individuals who could play basketball.

I headed to the outside cafeteria where I normally ate. My muscles were still tight and tense from the practice session. I used to eat here with Emmett but ever since the car wash, he had eaten lunch with his buddies. So I was surprised when I saw his familiar reddish hair glinting in the sunlight at our usual table near the fountain. He was focusing his red camera on a tiny sparrow. I waited until he had snapped a picture before I made my presence known by tapping him on the shoulder.

**Hey **he signed **Sit with me?**

**I missed you** I signed feverishly when I sat down. I grimaced as a furious red blush creeped along my cheeks. I couldn't believe I had actually said that to Emmett! What if I had made things more awkward between us? I would never forgive myself.

He smiled at me, that familiar grin that lit up his whole face. **I miss my best friend too**

My smile froze. I had once been his crush. That girl he had practically loved for practically half his whole life. But now…I was nothing more than his best friend. And it was all because of Bay.

**Do you want to hang out after school?** I took a bite out of my bacon and egg sandwich. Unlike most schools, Carlton had always provided quality cafeteria food. The food here was healthy and delicious, far from what they served at Buckner hall, which I found bland and tasteless.

Emmett grimaced and I mentally kicked myself for asking him out. What was I thinking? Of course he would be hanging out with his girlfriend! What would he want to do with me at my house when Bay Kennish with her dark, curly locks and flawless alabaster skin was only a few feet away! He would choose her over me! That was the way things worked out. Everybody had to give in to Bay because she was fragile and emotional. Let Daphne take the burden. She's strong anyway. She can take it. Well, excuse me but I have feelings too!

**Actually, that would be a good idea. **I was surprised at what Emmett had signed. **I miss spending time with my best friend. **

**So why did your face go all gross like that? **I signed bluntly. I wanted to know the truth. Was he only going to spend time with me because he pitied me? Or did he genuinely want to hang out together? But maybe he and Bay got into a fight…

**I was only thinking about the detention I have to do after lunch.** He bit into a crispy potato chip and made a face.

**What for?** I chuckled. Melody was going to kill Emmett when she found out. She hated it when Emmett got into trouble at school. She said that it ruined her reputation as the school's guidance counselor. Emmett always shrugged it off and tried to stay out of trouble but as my mom always said 'Boys will be Boys'

**Ms. Mallory caught me and Jackson signing during class. **He popped grape in his mouth. I smiled as I remembered when Emmett and I were ten and we made ourselves sick eating two bowls of seedless grapes. Emmett must have been remembering it too because he started laughing.

**Remember when we were ten…**His signs trail off as he bursts into laughter

**And we ate a lot of grapes…**I was laughing by this time too

**And our moms didn't' know if they should laugh or strangle us! **We stayed like that, laughing until our stomachs were aching and just having a good case of nostalgia as we remembered the good old days.

**Are you still with Bay?** I signed abruptly. I immediately knew that I had ruined our nostalgic moment since Emmett's eyes became hooded and his face became serious.

**Yeah…why?**

_**Nothing. **_I said and signed. **I have to go. **I picked up my tray and made my way towards to entrance to Carlton. I looked back at Emmett to see his expression. There was hurt and confusion all over his face and I felt a pang in my chest when I realized that I had hurt him.

But I quickly shrugged it off. He had chosen Bay, not me.

**BAY**

There was only one person inside the Sanctuary, a boy with his back to me, blowing smoke towards a graffiti splattered wall. He ignored me and I was grateful for that. I heard the bell ring in the distance but neither of us made a move. He continued to smoke and I continued to asses my surroundings.

I walked over to one corner of the sanctuary that was filled with old newspapers, crates and smashed bottles. The sun hit the glass bottles and it glinted, making a kaleidoscope of light on the wall.

I dropped my backpack and collapsed on one of the crates. Glass crunched under my feet and I buried my face in my hands. I was numb. I couldn't feel the pain from the recent revelation. It was as if my body had put up some kind of shield to deflect the hurt away from my heart. Why was it always me? In situations, why was I always the one who came out battered and bruised? In the whole Switched fiasco, I was the one left behind while my family had opened their arms gladly to Daphne yet my own birth mother couldn't even talk to me for a long period of time. Liam had broken up with me because of my drama and a few weeks later, when I was still hurting, he had already hooked up with Little Miss Perfect. Ty was probably off enjoying himself in the army, making good use of his life. He probably wasn't even thinking about me.

And Emmett…

I gulped and pushed his name away from my mind. I didn't want to think about him right now. I only wanted to wallow in my own grief and self-pity.

Fueled by the pain that was slowly building up in my chest, I searched frantically for a sharp piece of glass among the shrapnel on the floor. Tears began to stream down my face but I didn't care. I needed something to make me feel alive.

The piece of glass that my hands grasped was no bigger than my thumb but its edges were sharp and jagged. It was perfect for what I was going to do.

I ran my fingers up and down the length of my left arm. I traced my veins and felt my beating pulse. It was the reason that I was living in this infinite pain.

I wanted it gone.

I dragged the glass across my wrist and sucked in a breath. Soft pain blossomed and small droplets of blood squeezed out of the cut. The slash was shallow but that would quickly change.

I dragged the glass again, digging deeper this time.

The pain was surreal. Adrenaline flowed through me as I watched the blood begin to drop, snaking down the length of my arm, staining the glass under my feet. The physical pain fueled my energy and I made another slash.

I watched the blood for a while, entranced by the crimson river that never seemed to end. There was a buzzing in my ears and my head pounded. In my peripheral vision, I saw a shadow.

As I was steeling myself to make another cut, the shard of glass spun out of my hand violently. It hit the wall and promptly shattered into a million pieces.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I screamed hysterically at the boy who had kicked away the shard. It had been my lifeline, the one thing that assured me that I was still living; in a bizarre and twisted way.

"Saving you," He said breathlessly. His hair was jet black, blacker than midnight. It flopped down to his eyes and he ran his fingers through it irritated. His eyes were an unusual shade of green. Not quite sea green but not forest green either. It was something in between with gold specks. He was wearing black, the only splash of color in him were his eyes. A lit cigarette dangled from his long fingers but he quickly throws it away.

"I don't need saving," I said thickly, feeling as if something was lodged in my throat, making it hard for me to speak. Truth be told, I was ashamed that I had cut. It meant that I wasn't as strong as I thought I was. That I had let a simple heartbreak get to me. I was embarrassed to be found by a boy, a stranger at that. I was mortified.

He doesn't speak. His olive eyes study me for a moment and then he kneels down until his face is level with mine. There is a small scar at the corner of his lip; a tiny flaw in an otherwise perfect face. His smooth fingers caress my cheeks and I feel myself melting into his warmth. His scent engulfs me, minty and a fragrance that reminds me of the way the world smelled after a light rain. A chunk of dark hair falls across his eyes but he makes no move to brush it away. He reaches into his bag that falls across his slender body. His movements are graceful, fluid like water.

"Yes you do," His voice is soft yet firm, like the breeze that stirred up the fallen leaves during autumn.

I find myself nodding but fear begins to build up inside me when I see him holding a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some cotton balls. He is quick to sense this, however, and he places his hand reassuringly over mind.

"It will sting for a bit," He murmurs before twisting open the bottle cap. He pours a reasonable amount into a cotton ball and gently dabs it to my wound.

My breath exhales in a hiss and my hand clenches in a fist. He stops for a moment but continues again, quicker this time. I gaze upward, distracted by the delicate yet firm contours of his shoulders and his tense muscles.

Fire spreads over my arm and I grit my teeth. I close my eyes, trying to imagine myself lounging on a beach in the Bahamas or skiing down a slope in aspen but the incredible pain in my left arm is impossible to ignore. A sudden rip tears me away from my daydreams of me atop the Empire State Building gazing out into the lights of the Big Apple.

My eyes snap open to find the boy wrapping a dark cloth around my wound. The bottom of his shirt is shredded yet he acts as if he doesn't care.

"I'm Jake Mason," He says, his green eyes meeting mine after he ties a secure knot in the makeshift bandage.

His gaze his intense, going deeper into mine until I am positive that he could see my soul.

"Bay Kennish," I whisper

**EMMETT**

Room 13, also known as the Room where Mr. Varper, the Vice-Principal with a serious case of halitosis, held detention. It was also the room where Jackson and I would be spending the next two hours in.

**I see new faces…mixed in with the old…**Mr. Varper signs as the group of five boys sit before him with impassive faces. Everybody is holding their breathe in case the rumors were true that Mr. Varper's bad breath could actually poison somebody.

_**Thorn…Keager…Sable…meet Emmett and Jackson, first-timers in detention and this will hopefully be their last.**_ Mr. Varper signed as he spoke, putting his face directly before Jackson, glaring at him with his beady little eyes. Jackson turned his head to the side inconcpiciously and I bit back a laugh.

**You will be doing your homework from 2:30 to 4:30 and I will be checking you regularly. Failure to comply will result in…nasty consequences **With this dramatic threat, which I admit, freaked me out a little, Mr. Varper exited the room with his bulbous nose high up in the air.

One of the boys in detention, a red-haired boy with a bulky build stood up and peered through the glass window at the door. He waited a few seconds and then straightened up.

**Let's go **He ordered. The other boys stood up and they began to file out of the door.

**Wait, what's going on?** I signed, tapping a blonde boy on the shoulder.

**Mr. Varper always takes a nap during detention. We go to Frosty's to pass the time and come back here before he wakes up**

**Come on, newbies!** The last boy signed impatiently. He and the red-haired boy were waiting by the door.

Jackson stood up and shrugged. **Come on. It's better that spending two hours doing crap. **

I roll my eyes and follow them out the doorway. My best friend was going to be the death of me.

We pass through the hallways, miraculously undetected and manage to get out of the school without being seen by the teachers or the janitors. Frosty's Freeze was a coffee shop near our school. Their coffees rivaled Starbucks and were relatively cheaper too. We file inside and take a seat at a corner booth. A waitress comes to take our orders and the red-haired boy asks for five espressos. He asks, literally. As in, he speaks. When he sees my amazed look, he shrugs nonchalantly.

_**I'm partially deaf.**_ He speaks and signs. _**I'm Seth Thorn**_

**Alex Sable **The blonde haired boy mouths as he signs in case we didn't know his name sign. He jerks his thumb towards the last boy. **This is Cameron Keager. He doesn't sign much. **

Cameron nods his head towards us in acknowledgement and continues to stare out the window.

Our espressos are set before us, thick whipped cream and chocolate shavings floating on top. It's tantalizing, watching the coffee bubble, sloshing against the sides of the cup as the cream slowly melts.

_**So. **_Alex takes a sip then signs and speaks. _**What's your story?**_

**KATHRYN**

"Kathryn, dear! I need your help!" The no-nonsense tone of Denise rang out through the garden.

I was cutting up my daisies, trimming them until they looked immaculate in their pots and chopping off the irritating weeds that grew in my flower boxes. I liked my house to be perfect and besides, I had nothing to do except wait for my kids and husband to get home and cook for them. Ahh, the joys of being a housewife.

I put down the giant scissors I had been using and attempt to clean my face with my dirty hands. I sighed, knowing that it was futile.

"Yes, Denise?" I hoped that there wasn't any dirt on my face. My friend came around the corner, her curls bouncing on her shoulders, a tight green sundress complimenting her curves.

"I really need your help!  
>She gushed as her stilettos clacked upon the cobblestones. "We need to have a party immediately!"<p>

"What's the occasion?" I asked, surprised. The Fundraising was done and as far as I knew, there were no more upcoming parties to plan.

"Well," Denise drawled, tucking her hands underneath her chin and resting her elbows upon the stone wall, her large eyes shining. "Yesterday, I saw the most gorgeous Chanel dress. It was all dark red and I just know that I would be absolutely breathtaking wearing it!"

I sighed again. Although she was my best friend, Denise was shallow and self-centered. Nevertheless, she still cared deeply for her two sons and for her friends. "And how does a party have a connection with a Chanel gown?"

"I kind of promised Ethan I wouldn't spend a huge chunk of money on clothes again…" Denise trailed off bashfully. Denise was a shopaholic with no chance of recovery. She was absolutely addicted to clothes. She shopped whenever she felt like it, even hopping on a plane to New York if she was in one of her moods. Ethan Truman was her current boyfriend, the owner of a PR Firm that had very successful offices worldwide. I had no doubt that Ethan would become Denise's Husband #3 and I sincerely hoped that he would stay that way forever. Denise needed a decent man in both her life and her sons'.

"Alright fine!" I finally gave in to my friend's pleading smile. "But it better be a gorgeous gown and an amazing party!"

Denise yelped with joy and fumbled around her custom made purse for her planner. "Oh My God! Kathryn! You are the best! So I was thinking the Coral Gardens as a location or maybe the Gold Room. It would be exquisite if we had the party in the Gold Room,"

I had to agree with her. The Gold Room was an enormous ballroom in the Alighieri Hotel, the most prestigious hotel in Kansas. Renting the ballroom even for just one night would be expensive seeing as the walls, ceilings, floors, pillars-everything in the room was painted gold. Of course, Denise had unlimited money. She would be sparing no expenses for this party.

"And I was thinking of an old-fashioned theme. Like the classy and elegant Hollywood parties back in the eighties or nineties. It has to have slow dancing and maybe even a ballet…"

"And will our children be there?" I asked, shooing a mosquito away from my beautiful daisies.

"Of course!" Denise said, her eyes widening. "And this party would be a perfect time to get to know the Masons,"

"The Masons?"

Denise looked absolutely scandalized that I had not heard of them. "The new family? They just moved to town. The father, Dominick Mason, he's the owner of Mason Banks. And his wife is the famous Serena Mason, one of Vogue's Top Models. They have two kids, a boy and a girl. I've met the little girl, she's about six and very adorable. The boy…" Denise lowers her voice so that I had to lean in to catch her words. "Apparently he's a troubled one. Drugs, disappearances…that kind of thing,"

I was still impressed by the family. Mason banks was a chain of very successful and powerful banks. Why the family had moved to sleepy, old Kansas was a mystery to me.

"So are we still in for the party?" Denise asked, her large, brown eyes shining

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Denise, we are."

The following shriek my friend let out practically split my eardrums.

**BAY**

Jake was surprisingly a good confidante. Even better, he was new in town so he knew nothing about the whole Switched at Birth fiasco. I had implied that Regina was an old friend of my father from his glory days and we were letting her family stay with us until they found a house to live in. It was the story mom had originally planned to tell people before finally agreeing to tell them the truth.

"So wait, your boyfriend is deaf?" He asked disbelievingly. I had just finished telling him about Emmett. Of course, my stories of him were laced with much held back tears and clenching of fists, neither of which Jake had noticed. Or maybe he had chosen to ignore it.

"Yeah, what's the problem with that?" I said a bit too defensively

"Nothing, I guess," Jake shrugged. "You learned sign language just for him?"

"Yes," I said easily

"That sort of amazing, you know," Jake grinned at me

"Really?" Against my will, my face lit up. Learning ASL was hard-scratch that-learning ASL was difficult and I was glad that somebody had finally appreciated all my efforts. Sure, Emmett appreciated but I felt inadequate. Yes, he was deaf and had signed since he was practically walking but I was glad that I was finally admired for something besides my art.

"Are you sure about skipping sixth period? You can go, if you like. I won't mind," Jake was suddenly nervous, running a hand through his hair and cracking his knuckles.

I laughed. "And sit through forty-five minutes of boring History? Um, no thanks,"

He chuckled. "Well, it's pretty depressing here. What do you say to grabbing a bite?"

I stood up enthusiastically and dusted off my grimy pants. "Let's do it!"

He grinned maniacally at me, his green eyes sparkling. We walked briskly through the school, ducking in corners and bathrooms whenever we heard someone coming our way and trying to smother our laughter. Once we were out in the chilly air, we began to run as fast as we could towards the parking lot.

"Where's your car?" I asked giddily as we reached the neat row of cars parked horizontally.

"Who said anything about a car?" Jake cocked an eyebrow and smirked at me. He led me to a shiny, black motorcycle parked on the curb.

It was different from Emmett's bike. While his was lithe and small, Jake's was powerful; as if the motorcycle itself was breathing. The curves arched perfectly, the paint as sleek as ice. It was beautiful.

"I got this for my last birthday from my dad," Jake said proudly, grabbing a bright red helmet from under the seat. I realized that while I had told Jake about my delusional family, he hadn't told me a thing about his.

"Who's your dad?" I asked curiously, running a hand across the smooth leather seat of the bike.

Jake flinched. "He's just…uh…a banker…" He was clearly uncomfortable and since I felt like I owed him for his 'saving act' earlier, I decided to let it go.

He swung a leg over the bike gracefully, the muscles of his legs stretching underneath his form-fitting jeans. I stood closer to him, feeling small next to the huge bike.

Jake put the helmet on me, strapping it securely under my chin. I straddled the bike and gripped the excess cloth of my jeans.

"Don't you have an extra helmet?" I asked Jake, my voice muffled by the visor

He gave me a wide grin. "I'm fine,"

Jake turned the key in its ignition and the vehicle beneath me roared to life. Jake began to back it out of the parking space and it rumbled, longing for speed. I was still feeling brave at that point when the bike began to really move. It was so unlike Emmett's motorcycle. It was faster, more powerful, more alive. I yelped as Jake accelerated and I wrapped my arms around his waist. He laughed, the sound carried away by the wind.

Jake accelerated again and it was exhilarating. I whooped as the bike went faster. Stray curls escaped from the helmet and whipped themselves against the glass visor, making it hard for me to see.

And as soon as it had started, it was over, with the motorcycle leaning against the curb, Jake's leg keeping it from falling over. He turned to me, his brilliantly red lips curved up into a smile, his green eyes bright and his hair rumpled and messy. I struggled to take off my helmet but the complicated clasp deterred me. He fumbled under my chin, his fingers colliding against mine, a spark of electricity coursing through me. Once the helmet was off, I looked up at him.

"Let's do that again!" I said excitedly

Jake threw back his head and laughed, the sun shining down on his face, making his eyes sparkle even more brightly.

"Come on! Let's go!" I was the first to get off the bike. I grabbed his bike and scanned the street, my eyes locking on a boy whose azure eyes were trained on mine, sitting on a seat at Frosty's Freeze across the street.

Emmett.

**CLIFFIE ALERT! MWAHAHAHAHA!  
>Anyway, if you have a serious problem with my writing, you hate my plot, you have a suggestion for my plot or you just plainly hate my story and hate me and want me to kill myself…PM ME! <strong>

**And please follow me on my twitter: KAYLAA15_ or my tumblr: maniacpyro or ask my questions at my formspring: HeyyyItssMe**

**I'll try to update as soon as I can Rock on!**


	5. Poppies Blooming

**So a few errors were given light in the last chapter. First of all, I am totally sorry that I forgot that Daphne was vegan. I am so sorry. It was midnight when I was editing and I was whacked out. I know that it's pathetic of me to be making up excuses but please accept my apology.**

**Secondly, I am totally addicted to this new show, AWKWARD. Please watch it because it's really awesome and a new season is going to be shown this year. It's been my inspiration for the previous chapter so see if you can spot the instances that AWKWARD inspired me. If you do watch the show, I'm Team Jake. LOL**

**Thirdly, I got hooked up reading The Book Thief with Death's POV and all that since I am horribly morbid. I'm still depressed over the deaths of Rudy and Hans. I think that the book will probably inspire me in future chapters, though. Just a heads up. **

**DISCLAIMER: ****For my birthday on the 15****th**** of January, I will be asking for the rights to Switched at Birth until then, I do not own it!**

* * *

><p><strong>TY<strong>

I got out of the airport, my duffel bag in my hands. I breathe in deeply and smile to myself. I missed lazy old Kansas. Life in the training camp was, to put it in one word, hectic. I was used to the laidback life I led here and I was glad that I had time to familiarize myself at the obviously changed surroundings. I couldn't wait to see Regina, Adrianna and Daphne again. And of course, Bay. Who could forget about her? Certainly not me but one person whom I didn't want to particularly see was her father, John. I had nothing against John but that guy had it out for me. Well, this was to be expected since he had caught me making out with his non-biological daughter yet the child he had raised all these years at three in the morning in the front seat of his car. Even though I cleaned myself up and went to that hell of a dinner in their house, he was still hostile with me. It probably had a lot more to do with my age and my goals in life and also the fact that I was from the wrong sides of the track.

So you could imagine my surprise when a sleek BMW pulled up in front of me just as when I was calling my old buddy, Mikey, for a lift. John got out of the driver's seat, his suit crisped and free of wrinkles, his mouth in a straight line. He's frowning at my disheveled appearance and I consciously try to straighten out my messy hair. It's no use, however. _First impressions always last. _

"Tyler," he nods at me. "Just to make one thing clear, I will not be your chauffer who will be driving you from this airport to God-knows-where-you're-going,"

I nod mutely. I had always been intimidated by John but I was really confused by the sudden turn of events. If he wasn't here to pick me up, which I admit was my initial thought, why was he here?

"I am only here to invite you to dinner to our house tonight at eight p.m. My family doesn't know about this so I would appreciate it if you kept it quiet until tonight. Am I understood?"

"Uh…yes, sir," I stammer. "But if I may ask…why am I being invited to dinner?" Weeks at training camp had smothered the smart-ass, sarcastic boy in me and turned me into a polite, well-mannered man. At least with the people who had to be treated with respect, such as John.

"My actions are none of your concern," he says flatly. "I only want to ask you some questions. Now, if you'll excuse me," He gets back inside the car and without even a wave, he drives off, leaving me in the dust.

I sigh. Always the well-mannered John Kennish who always scared the living shit out of me.

It would be worth it, though. Even if I had to suffer through minutes and probably hours of another hell dinner, I would be seeing Bay again. That much was enough for me. I wanted to know what she had been doing for the past months. She would probably be putting up a shell around herself for the first couple of hours but maybe (and I hoped) she would warm up to me and we would get back on track.

But it was a hopeless thought. She had probably moved on by now. I had no chance against a probably rich, white boy whose father played golf with John, who was part of Kathryn's social circle and whom both parents approved of. There was no competition because place me beside this fictional boy and I knew that everybody would be choosing this boy (if he even existed) for Bay over me.

I sighed and thumbed through my contacts until I found Mikey Donahue's number. He was a little older than me but he was part of my contracting group and one of the guys who decided to make something out of his life instead of bumming around, drinking alcohol for the rest of their lives. I trusted him with his life and I knew that he had cleaned himself up and was now working as a waiter at some swanky bar.

"Hey, Ty! You're back!" His slightly accented but cheerful voice greeted me from the other end of the line. _At least someone's happy to see me _I thought dryly.

"Hey, man, are you free?" I asked seriously hoping that he was

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Can you pick me up from the airport? And I need a place to crash for a few days. Until I get back, that is," I crossed my fingers in my pocket, hoping that he would be okay

"Yeah sure. I've got extra space in my apartment. I'm picking you up right away!" He hung up and I sighed in relief.

Man, I loved Mikey.

In a bromance way, of course.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**BAY**

I'm a coward. I know it. I deserve to get hit by lightning. I deserve to be a victim of a hit and run. I deserve to burn in hell and it still wouldn't compare to the pain I saw in Emmett's eyes as he comprehended my hand around Jake's arm and the smile that was frozen in my lips. I saw it in the way his fingers gripped his coffee cup as a hooded look came over his face and he turned away, turned to grin at the boy next to him although I knew that the grin was fake. It was cold, not reaching his eyes and he was preoccupied. His companions saw that since they signed, presumably asking him what was wrong. I saw him shake his head and I wanted to dash inside Frosty's and demand and answer out of him about him and Daphne's kissed and whether he had felt anything after it. I wanted him to reassure me that I was still his girlfriend. I wanted both of us to feel that spark I knew we had both felt when we first kiss. I wanted to go back in time and make sure that he never went to the East-West Festival because right now, it seemed as if the Festival was the stupid voodoo shit that caught up on us. _One good thing happens, a bad thing happens right after it._

But like I said, I was a coward.

"Anything wrong?" Jake asked quizzically, noticing my sudden freeze in my tracks and my previous excitement ebbing away.

I debated whether to tell him or not but I realized that I didn't want to let another person into my life only to end up being hurt again. I didn't want to experience more pain and although Jake was a great friend even if I only met him recently, he looked like the kind of guy who would leave me out to dry in the end.

And I didn't want that. I was tired of all that.

So I shook my head and smiled up at him reassuringly. "Everything's alright…Are you in the mood for some Chinese food?"

I had initially planned to go to Frosty's but after seeing Emmett, I just didn't want awkwardness cropping between us with our friends in the way. I had noticed a restaurant with it's sign in Chinese and I normally don't eat Chinese Food but it was a better option than Frosty's right now.

Jake glanced over at the dingy restaurant with its gaudy neon sign and grimy windows. "Looks as if rats live in there,"

I snorted, feeling amazed that I could find some humor in such a dire situation. "Good enough for me,"

He looked at me strangely. "You're not afraid of rats?"

I shake my head. "Nope. You?"

"No…I guess I just got used to my ex-girlfriend. She had a phobia on rats and mice…and cockroaches…and generally any creature that was small and crawled or flew or made a noise…" He chuckled and I bit back a laugh in case I offended him with the crafty insults about his ex that were already forming in my head.

"Come on, let's try it. Should be fun," I knew right away that this was a terrible experience. The restaurant didn't look better than it had from the outside. There were no people in the store except for a forty something Chinese man with a stained apron over a rumpled shirt. He speaks something in Chinese to someone behind us and a petite, Asian girl immediately comes out of the kitchen, straightening her skirt. She looks surprised that customers would actually come inside their restaurant.

Jake leads me to a small table at the far end and snickers at me. "Are your ideas as bad as this?"

I stick out my tongue at him just as our waitress gives us a small, dusty menu that looked as if it hadn't been handled in a decade. "They're usually much worse,"

"Should I bail on you right now or what?" Jake asks, mock-seriously. How come this guy, who I had barely known for an hour, could completely get my sarcastic sense of humor? Where was he when the whole switched thing spun out of control and I desperately needed a laugh?

"I'm about to order dumplings and I don't know what the hell they put in them," I warned, trying to quell the laughter that was building up inside me. I ask the girl for a coke and she bobs her head then promptly turns to Jake, waiting for his order. He looks lost for a moment but he gamely contemplates his own menu and orders noodles and another coke.

"Bay Kennish, you will be the death of me," He mutters, sliding a hand over his face. He smiles at me, the right corner of his mouth higher than the left, to assure me that he was joking.

"So tell me about yourself," I said conversationally, shredding a piece of tissue to bits. Jake was…different. He gave off an aura of mysteriousness that even I couldn't put a finger on. He was an open book yet hard to read at the same time, which is really confusing, I know.

He bit his lower lip and my girly, teenaged hormones tingled. I mentally kicked myself. I _had _a boyfriend, double emphasis on the past tense. I was sure that Emmett and I wouldn't be together any longer after his…ah…complicated history with Daphne and the way his eyes looked as he saw my hand around Jake's arm. But it was still so wrong for me to fall in love so quickly after falling out of it. Wasn't there some kind of unspoken code about rebounds? The three-month rule or something? Damn teenage hormones, turning me into this.

"My mom's a…a…housewife," It was obvious that this wasn't the truth. "And I have a younger sister. That's all about me, I swear,"

I decided not to push it any further. He didn't want to tell me the whole truth and I had to respect that. I mean, he didn't push me to tell him what had triggered me to…cut. _Ugh, that word is disgusting. _And I didn't even tell him what was probably going to happen between Emmett and me. He was a pretty gentlemanly for a guy nowadays.

Our food arrived in plain gray bowls with wooden chopsticks. The coke cans look new, however, with condensation running down its sides. Jake looks at me weirdly and expertly picks his chopsticks, plunging it into the bowl.

This was embarrassing. Of course, Chinese food would come with chopsticks and little ol' me didn't know how to use one. I had never seen the need to learn how to and I was now completely regretting that. It would also seem rude and sort of selfish and spoiled to ask for a fork. I would have to make do.

"Do you know how to use chopsticks?" Jake asked, gesturing with his chopsticks at mine

I stuck my nose in the air and crossed my arms. "I know how to use…steel chopsticks…not wooden ones,"

He snickered. "There's a difference?"

My dignity was seriously being stepped on right now. "Yes…steel chopsticks have much better…grip than…uh…wooden ones,"

Jake howled with laughter and I let out an exasperated sigh. I was just about to stick my hand in the air and ask for a fork when Jake leaned over and plucked the chopsticks out of my bowl. I looked at him disbelievingly as he twirled noodles around it and shyly offered them to me. I stared at the chopsticks.

"Uh…you don't have to, you know…um…this was…uh…" He flushed red

I giggled and opened my mouth, taking the noodles inside it and chewing. They were surprisingly tasty. Really chewy and soft and so creamy.

Jake blushed and dropped my chopsticks. He picked up his own and began shoving noodles as fast as he could in his mouth. He took a huge gulp of Coke and continued eating, slurping at his bowl.

"You're pretty fun to hang out with, you know," I commented as he fed me noodles. It was pretty embarrassing, to be honest, but with Jake…it was like I could be real and he wouldn't mind if I did.

He grinned at me. "Good. I was thinking you only hung out with me because you needed a stress ball,"

I smirked at him. "And that too,"

Jake's eyes were bright and sparkling, full of boyish mischief yet full of secrets all the same. His gaze was sharp and deep, almost as if it would penetrate through you and see right into your soul. It was as if he knew your innermost thoughts, the secrets you couldn't share with anyone, the darkness and the monsters you hid inside yourself.

And in a strange way…I found relief and comfort in that.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**WILKIE**

Toby came in through the doorway, his blonde hair in a mess and looking as if he had just gotten out of bed. His eyes were on alert though as his expression turned disgusted as he surveyed the explosion that was my room. Dirty laundry, books, CDs and various shoes were scattered anywhere, barely leaving any room to tread upon. My bed was unmade and my desk looked as if a cat chewed it up and spit it back up. Crumpled papers were strewn everywhere and my wastebasket was overflowing with more paper.

The reason for all the waste of trees? I was writing a new song and although I knew what I wanted to write about and the inspiration was there, I just couldn't quite get the words right. Thus, the waste of paper.

"What's up?" Toby asked lazily, plopping down onto my bed. He turned on the TV and began to lazily flick through the channels, pausing at a basketball game and then continuing to flick through them again.

"Oh, I don't know…the sky," I said sarcastically, collapsing on my computer chair. My notebook was open to a fresh, blank page, waiting to be written upon and then torn and crumpled. The notebook was where I wrote down all my poems (and yes, guys can write poets. Even obnoxious guys like me), most of which we used as songs for GuitarFace. It was where I wrote down inspiration and no, I don't like calling it a diary or a journal. It was simply just a songbook…or an inspiration book…or Wilkie's notebook…or whatever.

"Actually, it's the ceiling since we're inside your room and the sky is outside," Toby said matter-of-factly. I resisted the urge to hurl my stapler at his pretty boy head and leave a good-sized egg.

"Shut up," I growled, glaring at him

He rolled his eyes and lay back down, his arms under his head. "What's new with the song?"

"There is no song!" I said, frustrated, gesturing wildly with my hands

He snorted. "I bet there is and you're just too shy to show them to me,"

"I am not!"

He twiddled his thumbs. God, Toby was frustrating. Why was I even best friends with him? Why?

"Come on, just show me what you did and we'll go on from there," He coaxed, picking up my acoustic guitar and handing it to me

I hesitated for a moment before plucking a few strings and thinking about my last attempt, which I admit was pretty good. I shrugged and started to strum. _What the hell. It's just Toby. He'll understand if the song is too cheesy or corny for the normal Wilkie. _

I strummed through the intro and began to sing.

_I remember your smile that day back in July  
><em>_I remember the way you laughed and when you raised your arms in the air  
><em>_I remember dancing in the rain, a perfect match of two  
><em>_And I remember your face when I first saw you_

I started to gain momentum and I closed my eyes, trying to escape Toby's steady gaze. I picked my way clumsily through the first stanza but by the time I got to the chorus, I knew what I was doing and that this was _the _song.

_It's hard to say that I've known you for only a short time  
><em>_And it's hard to believe that I'm already in love with you  
><em>_It's hard to admit that I don't think I can last a day without you  
><em>_Not without seeing those baby blue eyes of yours  
><em>_I just want to feel your lips against mine  
><em>_I know the spaces between my fingers were made for only you  
><em>_You've got the face of an angel  
><em>_And you can't deny  
><em>_That I'm falling for you_

I finished the chorus and the second stanza, moving onto the bridge, which I hadn't quite completed yet. But right now? I didn't care. I was singing from the heart, my thoughts filled with her.

Yes, her.

_I just want to hold you and feel you  
><em>_Right here in my arms  
><em>_I just want to kiss you coz I know that you're the one  
><em>_And I just want to tell you  
><em>_That I 'm never gonna let you go_

Daphne Paloma Vasquez

"Dude, that was awesome!" Toby crowed, going over to me and turning the pages of my songbook. I quickly snatched it away from him and placed it oh-so-gently inside my drawer. He rolled his eyes and spun the chair around so that I was facing him.

"So I was thinking we should add a really cool base line and a short guitar solo. Nothing too hard but not too soft, either. This is going to be awesome, Wilks!" Toby crowed, doing his stupid yet funny happy dance around my room and wincing whenever he stepped onto something.

"I'll let you work on that," I said absently. My mind was occupied with thoughts about a strawberry-blonde girl. I shook my head, trying to push those thoughts away from my brain. I. Could. Not. Fall. In. Love. With. Daphne. Vasquez.

First of all, she was Toby's biological sister. Even if they weren't that close, she was still his sister and it was against _our _bro code to date your bro's sister. Not only was that not cool, you would also risk being killed by your bro when you broke his sister's heart.

Second of all, Daphne didn't like me. To her, I was probably just another arrogant, stuck-up, rich, white kid whom she had to be nice to. To be fair, I was just a friend to her and nothing else. I saw how she looked at Emmett, how she was with him. I saw her face as she watched on as Emmett and Bay kissed and I wanted to hold her back then. I wanted to tell her that Emmett was just some jerk and that I could be the guy she always wanted. And I almost did.

But I didn't.

And I don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"…We just have to clean up on a few areas, substitute a few words and chords…that kind of stuff…" Toby blathered on and on, unaware that I wasn't even listening to him. Man, he was really excited about this new song.

But I felt nothing but dread from it. What if she realized that I liked _liked _her? What if things get awkward between us? Of course, I could always pull out my usual charm and be all suave like I do with all the girls that throw themselves on me but…Daphne was different and I wanted to impress her.

And I was sure that being a lying bastard wouldn't impress her.

Admitting that I liked her to her face was out of the question. No way. It wasn't even an option. It would be suicide if I did that. I might as well skip the country, change my name, have plastic surgery and never see her again. No freaking way.

"Are you even listening to me?" Toby's snapping fingers brought me out of my reverie. He was demanding, his face showing signs of excitement but also annoyance when he realized that I had zoned out for the last couple of minutes.

"Wha-? Huh? Uh…yeah?" It sounded more like a question but apparently, Toby was satisfied because he nodded to himself and continued on about the song.

Mother of God, why was Daphne doing this to me?

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**EMMETT**

Detention was over, thank God. Mr. Varper didn't notice that we had been gone for the entire duration of our punishment and he had dismissed us, nodding to himself in satisfaction. Cameron, Alex, Seth and me had gone our separate ways. Jackson was headed to a date with his girlfriend, Marci Myers and I was waiting by Daphne's locker. I was going to offer her to ride with me since picking up Bay was out of the question. She was certainly with that douche right now, holding hands and completely CHEATING ON HER BOYFRIEND!

I wonder what pushed her to do this…this…whatever you call it…fling? Wasn't I good enough for her? Was it because I was too controlling, too protective? Or too far away? Did he remind her of Ty or Liam? He looked like a bastard to me. Was she just doing that so I could be jealous? So I could feel what she felt when she learned that I used to have a crush on Daphne?

These thoughts were running through my mind as I waited for Daphne. I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally saw her. I couldn't wait to get out of here and into my room so I could wallow in self-pity. Yeah, I know, I'm pathetic for a guy. Probably why Bay would go to a douchebag.

**Hey, are you alright? How was detention? **Daphne signed once she was near me. She twisted the dials on her locker and placed her books inside, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. I remembered wistfully how I always dreamed of running my fingers through her hair and caressing her cheek.

But then Bay's sweet, beautiful face flashed in my mind and I mentally staggered backward.

**Yeah, I'm fine. It was okay, I guess. Anyway, you need a ride home? **

**I thought you were going to pick Bay up?** She couldn't mask the joy that was evident in her face even if she tried really hard. A giant smile lit up Daphne's face and she looked as if she was glowing once she knew that I was picking her over Bay.

I shrugged, trying to maintain a casual stance, fighting every urge to punch a hole through the lockers. **She had a ride home. I think she had to pick something up. **

**Oh, okay. Sure. **Daphne signed. She signed on and on about her day and about an accident in Biology involving Eva Simmons, Mr. Martin's toupee and a runaway frog. I was barely listening, though. I was thinking of ways to confront Bay about that guy. Well, maybe confront was a strong word…fine, ask about the guy.

Although I was pretty sure that I couldn't ask about the guy without slugging somebody.

The ride was pretty fast. One minute we were in Carlton and the next we were in the Kennish driveway and a familiar light blue tank was just pulling up. I stared at her, trying to meet her eyes but she was purposely avoiding my gaze.

**Can you leave us for a minute, Daphne?** I signed just as Bay was getting out of her car, trying to walk quickly towards the house.

Daphne looked at me weirdly and her face darkened and clouded over as she put two and two together and knew that I was going to talk to Bay. **Fine**

I sighed exasperatedly as Daphne walked towards the guest house and I ran towards Bay. Why are girls so frigging complicated to understand?

I caught up to Bay, grabbing her arm and turning her around.

**What the hell was that?** I signed angrily. Okay, this was a bad start. A really bad start.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**BAY**

Looking at him was painful, seeing his beautiful face and imagining him using me just to get to Daphne. Thinking that I was just used by Emmett was so…was so…heartbreaking. There was no other word.

_**What do you mean? **_I said and signed angrily. My signs were jerky, full of anger…full of pain. Full of the hurt he caused me. And I wanted him to hurt like I did. I just wanted to break up with him already so that he and Daphne could be together like the perfect fairytale. I wanted to be free of this misery. I wanted to be immune to heartbreak.

**That boy you were with earlier. Who was he?**

The nerve of this…this…scum! He had the stupidity to ask me about a boy I was with when he didn't even tell me that he had kissed Daphne!

_**None of your business. **_I crossed my arms.

**I'm your boyfriend. Everything you do is my business. **He signed. There was a muscle pulsing at the side of his jaw, his eyes were narrowed, his nostrils flared.

_**Your business? And it's not my business that you happened to forget to mention to me that you kissed your best friend? **_Here it was. In a few seconds, I would receive the truth.

Emmett's face fell and for the first time, he looked lost for words. He stared at the ground, at my car, anywhere but my face. He bit his lip and I wanted to scream in frustration. If he wanted to break up with me, couldn't he get on with it already?

**I just…needed to see…what it was…like. **He finally signed lamely. He knew it was a poor excuse, there was no doubt in his eyes. He knew that I wasn't going to accept this reasoning.

And he was right.

_**What it was like? **_I said and signed, icicles dripping from every word that I said. _**We're done. **_

I stalked off towards the direction of the guesthouse. I heard Emmett getting onto his motorcycle and the bike roaring to life.

I barged into the guesthouse, startling Regina and Daphne who were sitting on the couch, signing.

"You got what you wanted," I said to Daphne, not bothering to sign. Tiny droplets of tears began to fall from my eyes and cascaded down my cheeks but I didn't bother to wipe them away.

"Oh honey…Bay…what's wrong?" Regina murmured, standing up with her arms wide open. I sidestepped her and gazed at Daphne. The bitch's face was impassive.

"Emmett and I are over. That was what you wished for, right? Congratulations," I said brokenly

Then I stormed out of that fucking guesthouse as the tears began to steadily fall down my face.

We were done.

It was over.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**KATHRYN**

"Bay?" I asked uncertainly as my daughter entered the house. And yes, even though we weren't related by blood, I still considered her my daughter.

Bay was…to put it bluntly, a mess. Her wavy hair was all over the place and there were tear tracks down her face. She looked lost and fragile. She looked as if the only thing that was holding her together was a piece of thread.

"I'm okay," she said automatically

"Well…I just wanted to say…we're having dinner with Ty later," I said cautiously. I didn't know if this news would make her overjoyed or would only further upset her. I didn't want to pry in my daughter's affairs yet. She would open up to me when she wanted to and I didn't want to offer her any advice or scold her or anything like that. As a mom, I believed that when your child tells you something, listen first before offering your own opinion. That was when kids would learn to trust you with their innermost thoughts, although not all.

Bay's face lit up for a moment and for a second, she looked like the old, sarcastic Bay but then it fell and I could see her hastily wiping away the tears that were beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm taking a shower," she said in a monotone, walking slowly towards the stairs

I turned back towards the chicken that I was cooking. My hands moved automatically, I was in auto-pilot mode. My mind was on Bay's troubled face and the way she looked.

Bay was both emotional and physically stronger than most people but what if this time…what if this time my daughter had been presented with a situation even most people had trouble handling?

Bay wasn't invincible.

Although she didn't show it, she was vulnerable too.

* * *

><p><strong>Did you like this chapter? Personally, I didn't. I think this was my worst yet. But I don't know and I sincerely hope that my next chapter will be better. <strong>

**So this is my birthday gift to you guys. Why am I giving a birthday gift when I'm the one celebrating my birthday on the 15****th**** (WEIRD) WOOHOO! Yep, my fourteenth birthday is on the 15****th****, 2 days away!**

**And also I'm currently brainstorming ideas for the next chapter. **

**By the way, I went to a Simple Plan Concert last night and…IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME! I FRICKING LOVE SIMPLE PLAN! GET YOUR HEART ON! AHHHHH! -****DIES****-**


	6. The Last Judgement

**So I am sorry for this short chapter:( I've been really busy with homework, school and stuff so I wanted to post this before you guys got so impatient. You might get a little confused about the last part so I just wanted to warn you that it's in no on in particular's POV. Hahahaha:)) Anyway, did anyone watch American Idol Season 11 Pittsburgh Auditions? Eben is hot! LOL**

**And by the way, this chapter was inspired by the song 'Immigrant Song'. It was originally by Led Zeppelin but it was covered by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo soundtrack. It's the song that's playing in the movie's trailer. **

**DISCLAIMER: For my birthday...I didn't receive the rights to SWB:( So I don't own it...yet...**

* * *

><p><strong>EMMETT<strong>

She turned around to face me and I almost wished she hadn't. Her face held so much pain; it was a miracle that she could even hold herself together. Her eyes were empty, a void of infinite hurt, of never-ending emptiness that I knew would haunt me for the rest of my life. It numbed me, when I thought that I was the one who did this to her. That I was the one who caused this girl whom I loved all this suffering and misery. All this anger that was evident in each one of her hardened features.

_**What do you mean? **_She formed the signs quickly but I watched her mouth instead. That beautiful, soft mouth now curved into wrath directed at me. Me! Me, who once kissed that gentle mouth. Me, who once made those tender lips arch into a smile. Me, who once thought that I couldn't live without at least feeling that perfect mouth against mine once a day.

**The boy you were with earlier. Who was he?** It was hard to get the signs out. I wanted to know the truth yet part of me wanted to run away and hide. It was agony, seeing her sublime face turn into disappointment at first, then sadness then unimaginable fury.

_**None of your business. **_She crossed her arms, her wavy hair flipping with her every movement. Her stance and posture sent a clear message. _I don't want to talk to you. _

**I'm your boyfriend. Everything you do is my business. **I tried to persuade her. I softened my eyes, silently begging her to look at me, to understand my dilemma. To recognize the reason why I needed her to tell me that the guy meant nothing to her. I wanted her to realize that I was afraid of letting her go.

_**Your business? And it's not my business that you happened to forget to mention to me that you kissed your best friend? **_Each of her words was a stab to my heart, to my conscience and to my every essence. She had found out and nothing that I would say right now would ever repair that damage. She was broken, drowning in her own pain and I couldn't do anything to save her. She wouldn't listen to any of my pathetic excuses and explanations. She had heard what she had dreaded to hear and none of my reasons would change her mindset that I was a cheating, lying jerk.

**I just…needed to see…what it was…like. **It was piteous. And I knew that. I focused on her face, her lovely face with her creamy skin, soulful dark eyes that were framed with long lashes, now laced with tiny droplets of water. I knew that this would be the last time she would ever speak to me and I wanted to savor this bitter moment, even if I was hurting every second of it.

_**What was it like?**_ Her signs were slow but her mouth moved quickly as if she wanted to get those repulsive words out of her system. She didn't wait for an answer though. _**We're done. **_

And just like that, she was gone. The sole purpose of why I woke up every morning smiling and wanting to get to school was gone. The most beautiful creature God ever created was gone, walking quickly towards the guesthouse where the Vasquez family were currently living.

The tears formed in my eyes but I quickly blinked them away. Not here, not now. I didn't want to seem so weak. It would just be pathetic.

So I did what I do best. I swung a leg across my bike and rode off into the setting sun.

I ran away.

From the hurt, from the pain.

From Bay.

From everything.

* * *

><p><strong>BAY<strong>

"Bay?" The voice was low, filled with love as only a mother's voice could. She wasn't even my biological mother but she loved me all the same. She loved me for all my flaws, for all my mistakes, for all the worry that I caused her. It made me ashamed of myself for I couldn't learn to love a person so unconditionally that you would do anything just to see their smile.

"Yeah, mom?" My voice was as hoarse as sandpaper, roughened by the minutes of crying I had spent while showering. I cleared my throat and wiped my face, catching a glimpse of my tear-stricken self in the mirror. I looked misery.

"I just wanted to tell you that…that your father invited Ty over for dinner…but if you don't want to see him…we could just…cancel…" Mom's voice trailed off, unsure if I was going to break down the door and scream at her or if I would just stay silent.

Any other day, his name would have filled me with utter joy and longing. But now? Ty was history, my past. I didn't really want to see him but I knew that if I asked my parents to cancel, I would be known as the girl who couldn't handle things strongly. I would be considered as delicate and easily shattered. And I also knew that someday, I would regret not taking up the chance to see Ty, even if I was being tormented by the _what if's _of the past every second of it.

"No, it's okay…I can handle it," I managed to call out. I was still naked, my wet hair dripping wet, a white towel wrapped around my frame. My eyes were red, my lips chapped and bruised. I didn't feel beautiful or even average. I felt monstrous. Unloved. A mistake.

"Are you sure? We could easily reschedule,"

"It's fine, Mom,"

I could hear her footsteps as she walked away. I could sense that she wanted to say something but held it back. I could feel that she was aching to know what had happened but didn't want to pry. And in a strange sense, I wanted her to know what was happening to me too. I didn't want to bottle up all my emotions any longer. I wanted someone to carry my burden with me, even if I knew that I was going to be the one who carried it until the end.

I sighed, my breath laced with tiredness and defeat. I walked over to my closet and threw the doors open. There was a dark blue dress with soft lace trimmings at the side. It was a dress that my mother originally wanted me to wear for the fundraiser but she settled for another one instead at the last minute. I hadn't had a chance to wear it yet so I took it off the rack and put it on.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror and was satisfied. Although my hair was still wet, I was barefoot and my eyes were red, I kind of looked…beautiful. The dress perfectly hugged my curves, the blue hue was immaculate against my skin and it flowed fluidly down my body.

I turned on my hair-dryer and dried my hair. It was only then that I noticed my phone blinking with two new messages, one from an unknown number. The other was from Emmett.

'_I'm sorry I didn't tell you about what happened earlier. I should have and I realize that now. Please forgive me. –E' _

I glowered at the phone screen and roughly pressed delete. I went through all my pictures and deleted the ones that contained Emmett, which left me with about five photos. Then I opened the anonymous message.

'_Hey. I got your number from Simone, I hope you don't mind. –Jake'_

I smiled and quickly typed back that of course, I didn't mind. I couldn't believe that Jake had asked Simone for my number when I could have just given it to him. He had told me earlier that he couldn't stand Simone with her typical rich teenaged girl attitude. It was actually hilarious to find out that we hated the same kids. Jake told me that his first day at Buckley, some of the lacrosse jocks slammed him against a locker, which instantly lowered his view on the school. He had even cut hundreds of classes because he couldn't stand to be degraded by the students just because he was quiet and didn't dress like a wealthy boy but now that he had met me, his opinion on Buckley was becoming a little higher.

"Bay? Uh…Ty's here," Toby's nervous voice snapped me out of my reverie and I realized that there was still a lot of stuff I needed to do, fix my hair and find my shoes for instance.

"Oh, shit! Tell Mom I'm coming!" I yelled while frantically going through all my shoes and simultaneously untangling my hair with my fingers.

I ran out to the hallway, flustered and out of breath. I smoothened the creases that had formed in my dress and froze, one hand still poised to tuck my hair behind my hair as a deep voice resounded from downstairs.

It was Ty's voice, so the same yet so different.

Ty. Crap. I so wasn't ready for this.

* * *

><p><strong>When there's nothing else left to see<br>****Nothing else to hope for  
><strong>**Look in the mirror  
><strong>**And as you see through the dried tear tracks  
><strong>**And the bloody arms covered with wounds  
><strong>**Try not to forget yourself  
><strong>**Because you're sanity is all that you have left**

The man was tall, an imposing figure in an crisp dark suit. Not a hair was out of place on his head and he looked calm as he drank an amber liquid from a crystal glass. His chiseled jaw tensed as a beautiful woman with long, flowing mahogany hair entered the room. She was like an angel from another dimension, a perfect one at that. Her bright red dress was flawless against her creamy, tanned skin. Long legs peeked out under the short hem of the dress but her bright blue eyes…her azure eyes were frightened.

"Dear, our son…he did nothing wrong…please, don't…please don't hurt him…" Her voice was as fragile as thin ice, thickly laced with fear. She got down on her knees before the man and bowed her head, a stance not meant for a woman with looks like hers.

The man took a long gulp from his glass, draining the vodka until there was nothing left at the bottom. He looked at the glass thoughtfully then put it down, opting instead to take another swig from the half-full bottle.

"Send him in," He said lazily, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

The huge doors with gold ornaments swung open to reveal a slender boy with fire in his eyes. His stance was determined, behind him a little girl with dark hair in braids. The girl was afraid, you could see that much from her expression and she was hiding behind her brother and clutching the back of his shirt.

"There's no need to call me, Father," The boy spat, his voice laced with venom as the last word got out of his mouth with much trouble

The man stood up and carefully walked to the middle of the room, stumbling a little as the alcohol began to work through his bloodstream. He ignored the woman who was sobbing quietly, her hair cascading down, hiding her face.

The little girl whimpered and the boy moved closer to her. He and his father stared at each other, not showing an ounce of fatherly-son emotion in their gazes. He squeezed his sister's hand and disentangled her fingers from his shirt. Tears began streaming down of the little girl's face.

The boy walked on until he was in front of the man he called his father. They evaluated each other for a few seconds and you could see the similarities between the two. The boy had his father's long, sharp nose and his dark hair. Both of them had disgust clearly written across their faces.

The man raised his hand and slapped the boy hard and firm across the cheek. Mother and daughter wailed, the little girl falling to the floor, her shoulders heaving. The boy took a step backward and put his hand to his nose, blood staining his fingers as he drew his hand away. He contemplated his father with repulse but made no move to fight back.

His father struck him again and again and again until the boy was on the floor, still unwilling to fight or show weakness. The man kicked his son on the shoulders. His daughter wailed and his wife ran to her, drawing the little girl to her chest and hiding her tear-streaked faced with her hair. She knew that neither of them could do anything and both would only get hurt if they did try.

The man kicked the boy on the stomach, once, twice until his son was lying on the floor, wincing as he held his stomach.

"Maybe next time…you'll learn," The man hissed. He strode towards the door, staring at the intertwined bodies of his wife and daughter with aversion.

"Leave him," He commanded. Mother and daughter followed him obediently, both gazing at the crumpled form of the boy helplessly.

As the heavy door closed, the boy writhed in pain. Fire blossomed everywhere in his body, licking his stomach, shoulders and face. The rough texture of the carpet did nothing to relieve the pain.

As he lay there on the floor, the hurt numbing him, he came across a sudden realization.

Nobody wanted him. Nobody cared for him. He was better of dead and nobody would even notice if he died.

He was invisible.

He was nobody.


	7. Blue Period

**So I am so sorry for not putting this up sooner but I was really busy:( I also don't like the idea of Bay and Daphne dragging out into a fight over Emmett since I really like the two of them interacting and all that so I made them okay in this chapter:)) **

**I didn't edit this much since I wanted to put this up right away so you guys would know that I was still alive so there are probably a lot of mistakes, typos and grammatical errors here:) Just wanted to give you guys a heads up!  
><strong>

**DISCLAIMER:****I do not own Switched at Birth!**

* * *

><p><strong>BAY<strong>

As I descended down the stairs slowly, my eyes met Ty's and I quickly looked away. My body was numb, my heart beating hard in my chest and my palms were beginning to sweat. The feeling of perfection earlier came crashing down and I now felt only small and inferior. I was aware of the sweat in my underarms, of my ragged nails and my pinched toes in my shoes.

Ty was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that showed off his bigger biceps and broader chest. He was darker, taller and was generally more intimidating than I last saw him.

"Hey," His voice was deeper and more mature, fitting this new him

I gulped and took a few deep breaths to rid myself of nervousness. "Hi…You're back…like you said…in the…um…letter," I resented the way my voice sounded. Like a stupid eight-year-old girl.

He chuckled but it was dry as if he couldn't believe my restrained greetings. "Yeah…I am,"

Ty opened and closed his mouth as if he wanted to add something more but couldn't find the right words. The doorbell rang, its _ding-dong _echoing through the house, slicing the frigid tension in the air. I pushed past him and opened the door instantly coming face to face with Adrianna, Regina and Daphne, all of them wearing colorful dresses and identical bright smiles.

"Bay! You look wonderful!" Adrianna said sincerely, pecking me on the cheek and moving past me to embrace Ty tightly. Regina gave me an embarrassed smile and fidgeted, finally joining her mother who was speaking in rapid fire Spanish to Ty. Daphne and I were left in the foyer, not meeting eyes and clearly uncomfortable with our position.

"You look nice," I said finally. I looked into her eyes as I spoke, wanting to be the better person.

_**Thank you.**_ She looked surprise with what I said, her eyes clearly showing that much. Her signs were hesitant, as if she was afraid that I would go ballistic and start chucking stuff at her.

I nodded once and turned around to go to the dining room when Daphne spoke again.

_**For what its worth…I'm sorry about you and Emmett. **_She blurted out. Her eyes widened in apology as a brief look of pain flashed across my face. God, it was as if knives had stabbed every part of my body when I heard his name. My breath hitched in my throat and I blinked rapidly to stop the tears that were threatening to spill over.

"It's okay," I managed to say, my hands too numb to sign. My voice was so quiet, it was barely audible.

Just like my life, those two supposedly reassuring words didn't hold an ounce of truth anymore.

* * *

><p><strong>REGINA<strong>

Dinner was very awkward with John sitting contentedly, glaring at his food and Kathryn valiantly trying to make small talk. Toby was bored, pushing around his pasta on his plate and Bay had her lips pursed and fists clenched. The room's atmosphere was rigid, the silence stretching on for minutes but seeming like eternity.

"The pasta is very good," Ty said softly, trying to ease the tension.

Kathryn smiled warmly at him. "Thank you,"

"It's much better than what they served at camp," Ty said, putting some pasta in his mouth.

"What do they serve there?" Toby asked, showing his first signs of interest ever since the dinner started half an hour ago.

Ty thought for a moment. "It was always bland and tasteless. I missed home-cooked meals and even fast food," He laughed, his thoughts far away.

"And what will you be doing after you've completed your training?" John inquired, sipping his water, his jaw taut and tense.

Ty cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I think they're sending some of us to Afghanistan, sir,"

"Afghanistan?" We all turned to look at Bay who had spoken. Her lips were pale, gnashed together, her hand clenched tightly around her fork.

"In war?" My mother squeaked. Mom had always been close to Ty, babying him and cooking for him. She had worried about him constantly during the past few months and was relieved when we had heard that he was taking a short break and coming back to Kansas.

Ty didn't answer the question. He averted his eyes and stared at his plate instead. "I'm going in a month," His voice was soft and gentle yet firm. He had already made the decision and no amount of persuading would convince him not to go.

Daphne stood up abruptly, her utensils clanging loudly. Her face was turned down in a furious scowl, her arms crossed.

**Daphne.** I used her name sign to restrain her from blowing up. She ignored me and continued to glare across the table at Ty. She had always been impulsive, letting her emotions get in the way, a trait she shared with John.

_**This is so like you. **_She spat angrily, looking at Ty's hunched figure mercilessly. _**You tell everything at the last minute. You don't care about the people you're going to leave behind. You don't care about us. We've been worrying about you for the past days and you suddenly announce that you'll get yourself killed in four weeks. This is exactly what you did to Bay, telling her only when you were going to leave. Do you know how much she had been hurting when you left? Do you even care about her? Do you even care for me? For all of us?**_

Tears spilled down Daphne's face as I stared at her. She was breathing heavily, her hands hanging limply down her sides. Ty wouldn't even meet her eyes. She walked off, her footsteps echoing until we heard the door slam.

"I'll go after her," Bay offered, standing up. Everyone was shocked, my mother had her head buried deep in her hands. Even Toby, whom I had first labeled as an insensitive and insolent teenaged boy, was staring at the table blankly.

I looked at Bay's retreating back until it had vanished around the corner. I gawked at the space even when I heard the door shut quietly and she wasn't inside the house anymore.

I wished that I wasn't as helpless as I felt right now.

* * *

><p><strong>DAPHNE<strong>

Afghanistan. Afghanistan where there are men with bombs and guns and tanks hungry for blood. Men who kill each other with no remorse and guilt. And Ty, who was like a brother to me all these time, going off into the heat of war. I always thought that after training camp, he would come back here and get a job. What if Ty was killed? What if the next time I saw him would be his cold corpse in a box? What if his body would never be even found? What if…

Someone tapped my shoulder, startling me and I whipped my head around, furiously wiping away my tears. Bay stood there, looking concerned, her eyes puffy and red like mine.

_**Hi. **_I said and signed, coughing awkwardly. We had never been the best of friends especially since the recent events when she thought that I had been the force that broke her and Emmett up.

She nodded once at me. _**How are you doing?**_

_**Definitely not okay. **_I laughed humorlessly as she smiled dryly. Bay took a seat on the wicker chair smoothening out her dress and crossing her arms. We were out on the basketball court, near the entrance to her garage where I had confronted her about her and Emmett's relationship status.

_**I know you're worried about Ty. We all are. **_She said and signed slowly. Concern was etched onto her dark eyes but there was a certain wisdom in it too. As if she was already prepared to give up Ty and let him go to war. We both knew that no amount of reasoning would prevent him from going. We weren't the ones who controlled his life.

But a huge chunk of me didn't want him to go.

_**I wished he didn't have to go but he wants to and I have to respect that. We all do.**_ Bay added, her hands shaking slightly. She looked away, hugging her arms to her chest and stared up at the night sky. I saw a glimmering teardrop on her cheek but I blinked and it was gone.

_**I know. I just hope he makes it back alive. He's like a big brother to me and I don't want to lose him. **_I said after a moment. Bay smiled up at the stars and was just beginning to sign something when she looked behind her shoulder, hearing something. I glanced at where she was looking and saw a bashful Ty with red cheeks and an abashed smile.

"Mrs. Kennish and Regina sent me to ask if you girls were okay," I read his lips, my heart aching to persuade him not to go away.

* * *

><p><strong>BAY<strong>

He stood there awkwardly as he waited for an answer. Daphne's lips were trembling as she contemplated him, probably wondering how long he was going to last in Afghanistan. I couldn't help but flashback to when I first saw him when I was stalking Regina and Daphne in their old home. How he assumed that I was a creepy, rich stalker who had time to lose on her hands. I remembered how I fell in love with his easygoing smile and his laidback attitude.

I was going to miss him.

"Oh we're okay. Just planning some stuff for your funeral," I joked, trying to make him and Daphne laugh. Ty chuckled, a deep reverberating laugh that shook his shoulders.

_**We were thinking about orchids for flowers. And 'Highway to Hell' as the song. What do you think? **_Daphne added, smiling genuinely for the first time since Ty's disastrous revelation.

"Or maybe 'Ding Dong, the Witch is dead'. I think that's more appropriate and perfect for the service," I quipped

Ty laughed again then turned serious. "I'm really going to miss you. The both of you," He walked towards us and took a leaned against the stone column, his hands deep in his pockets, brows furrowed and a look of pure concentration on his face. His eyes were hard, a million miles away.

"Do you really have to go?" I murmured, wanting him to hear me and not to hear me at the same time.

He heard. "There's nothing left here for me. I don't want to do the same old stuff I did since I was fourteen. There's memories here. Memories that I'd rather leave behind. I want to see the world before I die. I want to serve my country, do something heroic for once instead of just being the shitty little troublemaker I've been my whole life,"

_**Afghanistan isn't the world, Ty. You could have gone to Europe to study or to India to see the elephants. There's Philippines with their beaches and Switzerland with their watches. Why did you have to choose war?**_ Daphne pointed out. I nodded fervently, agreeing with her. I wanted tomake Ty see some sense. Dying for your country is a really noble thing to do, I admit, but there were men for that. Other men more equipped to deal with it. Why did it have to be Ty?

He snorted. "You're right, of course but travelling also requires money, which I don't have,"

I bit my lip. "You could have asked,"

"Yup, I'm sure John would like to give me a few Franklins for that. He would love it. Absolutely love it," Ty said sarcastically. There was no denying it. My father hated him and if murdering people wasn't illegal, I'm pretty sure Ty would be dead right now.

_**Alright. Give us one good reason to go to Afghanistan instead of the crap and lies you've been feeding them. I know you, Tyler Mendoza. I know that there's a deeper reason than what you're telling Mom. And I want to know it. **_I whistled softly. It was the first time I heard Daphne swear. She didn't look furious right now like she did earlier. She only looked sad and upset.

Ty sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Do you really want to know the truth?"

I gulped, knowing that this would be a bad idea. But I nodded all the same.

He exhaled slowly, twisting his fingers, not meeting our eyes. He blinked a few times before clearing his throat. "Before I went away…before I met Bay," At this, his eyes flickered to look at me. "I was really depressed. I don't know if I was suicidal or something…I just knew that I took sleeping pills and wished that I would just die. There was nothing left here for me. I was good for nothing, a worthless piece of shit that didn't deserve to live. Even when I met Bay…there was still this…this void that was deep inside me. I wanted-I needed-to fill that void with something and…Bay just wasn't it. When I went to training camp, that hole inside me was filled up. I felt like I could do something to prove that I'm not a pointless human being,"

There were tears running down Daphne's face as Ty finished his rant, eyes apologetic as he waited for our response. I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. Why didn't he tell me any of this? He always seemed so…happy. Not all of the time but often. He didn't even cut or do the stuff that people with depression and suicidal tendencies tended to do. I put my fingers to my temples and began to massage them, taking deep breaths and trying to form a proper response.

Ty's going to Afghanistan was inevitable. No matter what I do or say, he was still going. He needed to get away from the demons that were haunting him here and begging him not to go would only do more damage to him. I could get what he was getting at.

I needed to let him go.

"Okay…okay…you have my…permission to go," I muttered, not opening my eyes.  
>Ty murmured a soft thank you, relief painting his voice.<p>

_**I'm sorry…for not being a better friend…for not being there for you when you obviously needed it. But I just wanted to say that…you can go to Afghanistan and do whatever it is that you need to do there. Just please…come home.**_

I almost cried at Daphne's words. But I needed to be strong. I opened my eyes to see Ty's melancholy face staring at me. I smiled at him to show that I had meant what I said and there would be no going back. He could go to Afghanistan…but only if he came back.

"It wasn't your fault," He turned to Daphne and said firmly and slowly so that she could read his lips. "I pushed you away every time,"

_**I should have tried harder. **_Daphne mumbled

Ty shook his head. "You were the best friend a guy could ever ask for. You didn't do anything wrong,"

He leaned towards us and enveloped us in a big hug. I could smell his musky scent combined with the fragrance of his cologne. I giggled suddenly and he looked down on me as if I was deranged. I shrugged my shoulders and sighed.

It would be hard to let him go.

* * *

><p><strong>WILKIE<strong>

I sat on my bed, strumming my guitar absently. My Chemical Romance's _Bulletproof Heart _played loudly in my room. I settled for losing myself in the beats, the lyrics and the chords that made up one hell of a song that was a perfect metaphor for my life right now.

_Gravity don't mean too much to me  
>I'm who I've got to be<br>These pigs are after me, after you_

Why was it so hard to like a deaf girl? There was a matter of the clashing of cultures. Daphne knew how to speak and could communicate with me but I didn't know how to sign. She lived in this whole other world and I existed in another reality. My friends would make fun of her and she would be known as the freak. It was obvious that most people in Buckner didn't care about Daphne. They treated her like shit, laughing at her and calling her a retard. Her only friends there were Toby, Bay, me and Liam and I was sure that things between her and Liam had gotten a little bit of awkward.

And there was also the matter with my parents. They wanted me to date someone with poise and dignity. In other words, they wanted me to date someone with affluence and with a rank they deemed acceptable in society. They wouldn't take lightly to their only son having a deaf girl from the wrong side of the tracks even when she's the biological daughter of John and Kathryn Kennish for a girlfriend.

But they knew nothing of love. Yes, they were still together but my father liked to play the field a little, always disappearing off to Las Vegas or New York for what he called business trips but really for gambling and chasing women. My mother had several boyfriends, most younger than her, up her sleeve. They knew nothing of love. The girls they considered worthy enough for my girlfriend were ladies like Clover whose parents were filthy rich.

They didn't even want me to participate in a band but they had warmed up to the idea when GuitarFace played during the charity and received warm praises from their friends.

If I dated Daphne, they would be after the both of us. They would kick Daphne to the ground and they would probably disown me. That's how much they cared for their outward appearances. They would choose their rank over their own son.

"Wilkie?" My mother's high, snotty voice sounds from behind the doorway as she knocks. I scramble to turn off my stereo and stand up just as she enters.

"I heard from Denise today that she and Kathryn are planning a small party in three months," As usual, she's dressed in a provocative outfit; a nightgown that revealed more than it covered. She has make-up even when it's 10 pm in the evening and most mothers would be asleep.

"So what?" I fight to control the coldness in my voice.

My mother takes no notice of it. I had always been taken care of by nannies since my mother didn't want to waste her time taking care of a messy little baby. I had no memory of either her or my father ever playing with me when I was a child. John and Kathryn Kennish had been more of parents to me than my own.

"I would like you to find a date in time for the party. We need to impress a _lot _of people during the soiree. I heard that apparently, a wealthy family has moved into dreary old Kansas and would be attending. I already commissioned suits for you and your father and a new ball gown for myself. I also heard from Denise that they're thinking of making it a masquerade so I've already asked a custom mask maker to make masks for the three of us,"

"Would that be all, mother?" I put as much contempt as I could at the last word

She sniffed, looking at me up and down, displeased with my appearance. "Yes, Wilkie. That would be all,"

I turned up the volume on my stereo once she left. I covered my face with a pillow and screamed as another song began to play in ear-bleeding volume.

Fuck my parents. I was going to ask Daphne to the party.

And I don't give a fuck to what anyone would think.

* * *

><p><strong>Twitter: KAYLAA15_ Tumblr: maniacpyro<strong>


	8. Orpheus and Eurydice

**Hey guys! So I am so sorry for not updating sooner:( As a peace-offering, I offer you this long chapter (about 8,500 words or so) in hopes that you will forgive me. Thank you to my readers and the ones that actually review! I'd really appreciate it if you would comment on my plot progression, character development, grammar, my pacing, if my characters are a little OOC and my scenes instead of simply just saying _update! _or _Where's the next chapter?_ **

**I need a new character for the masquerade (coming in about a chapter or two) so please submit one. The best character that someone submits will be credited and named in the chapter with the masquerade! **

**I've also been watching a lot of American Idol and my top contestants are: Jessica, Colton, Phil, Heejun, Shannon and Erika. It was too bad they cut out Reed and Eben though:( **

**Also, if you are reading any good books...PM me and recommend some! It's going to be summer vacation for me in a week and I really need some new stuff to read. And also some new music:)) SO PM ME!**

**Won't delay you any longer! **

**DISCLAIMER: I am a Emmet-Bay shipper and a Daphne-Wilkie shipper. I'm afraid Jake doesn't exist in the real series:( Other than that, I DON'T OWN SWITCHED AT BIRTH! ONLY JAKE AND ROBYN AND SOME OTHER CHARACTERS I'M PLANNING TO MAKE!**

* * *

><p><strong>BAY<strong>

I woke up feeling shitty with my head hurting and a metallic taste in my mouth. I groaned as I sat up in my bed and stretched. I had stayed up painting late last night, taking out all my anger on a new canvas and some paint. My fury at Emmett's kiss with Daphne, my wrath at Ty's leaving in thirteen more days, my frustration at wanting to be angry with Daphne but failing to do so and my outrage at myself for breaking up with Emmett.

I regretted breaking up with him. Hadn't he explained to me that he just wanted to find out what it was like? Hadn't he made it clear to me that I was the only girl for him and that it didn't matter that I was hearing and he was deaf? His out of this world birthday present for me had proved his love for me, not to mention him taking speech therapy just to be able to communicate with me.

Yet why did I break up with him? Was it my pride that led me to do it? Was it my selfishness since I obviously didn't want to share Emmett with anyone? He was mine, only mine and I didn't want any other girl infatuated with him. Especially his best friend whom he used to have feelings for.

But I couldn't just crawl back to him, couldn't I? I had my own dignity too. And if we did go back to being together again, could I still trust him? I don't want to order him to break up all his ties with Daphne. They've been best friends since they were eight. I don't want to be a selfish bitch but there was just a matter of trust between us.

"Bay?" My mother's voice broke me out of my reverie. She knocked on my door twice and opened it, a bright smile on her cheerful face. "I just wanted to let you know that we're going shopping with Regina, Daphne and Adrianna today,"

"Is there any reason why we have to go shopping with them?" I snapped. Mom only smiled at me, not taking notice of my snarky behavior. She was used to my irritated attitude every morning. I was not a morning person, unlike her.

"Denise and I are planning a party three months from now. We need to go shopping for your outfits. This is going to be a masquerade so I imagine that it would be difficult to find appropriate and elegant dresses,"

"Where are we going to find masks? Don't we have to have some for a masquerade?" I asked, rubbing my eyes and yawning. Great, another party. The last one didn't turn out so well with my Dad catching me and Ty making out in his truck.

Mom nodded eagerly. "Yes, of course! That's why we're going to a friend of mine who makes masks for special occasions. I already made an appointment with him and he promised to let us see his best masks,"

"Ugh, sure Mom. Whatever. I'm just going to shower, okay? Then I can meet you guys downstairs,"

"Be ready in an hour, Bay. I made the appointment for eleven o'clock," Mom closed the door behind her and I groaned, rubbing my temples with my fingers. I wanted to do nothing more than to curl up and sleep again but knowing Mom, she would just probably fill a bucket with water and drench me.

I stood up and walked to the bathroom, wincing at my bedraggled appearance. My appearance was a huge mess and there was a pimple on my chin. I looked like Medusa with my hair looking as if a rat had slept on it.

I sighed and brushed my teeth. This was going to be a long day.

The shower was nice, relaxing my tense and still groggy muscles. I blow-dried my hair, making it look straighter and tamer than usual. I just wore a plain crimson shirt and denim shorts with flats since I was pretty sure that I would be taking off those clothes to try some dresses during our shopping spree. I made sure to cover my growing pimple with some concealer and splashed on some lip-gloss. I grabbed my leather jacket and a ponytail in case I got cold and trudged downstairs. By the sounds coming from the kitchen, I gathered that the Vasquezes were already there.

"Bay!" My mother looked up at once as I walked heavily inside the kitchen. Regina and Adrianna were eating a pile of pancakes drenched in maple syrup. Regina wore a light green blouse that went with her olive complexion well while Adrianna wore a flowery sundress with black leggings and a white cardigan. She looked good for a woman her age and she had definitely gone through worse times. They both wore easy smiles and with a pang in my heart, I wondered how it would have been if Daphne and I hadn't been switched. Would I be speaking Spanish? Would I have been deaf?

Would Emmett and I have been together?

Fuck you, universe.

_**Hi Bay. Do you want chocolate or maple syrup with your pancakes? **_Daphne signed and asked, smiling cheerily as I plopped down on a chair. I noticed that her pile of pancakes were soaked in chocolate syrup, a similarity between us.

Mom served me a plate with a small pile of pancakes, which I immediately drenched in chocolate syrup. I took a sip of coffee from the mug before me and my mood became slightly better as soon as the hot bitter liquid ran down my throat.

"I still can't believe I'm going to my first masquerade," Adrianna said with a peal of girlish laughter. "By the way, Kathryn, have I told you that these pancakes are divine?"

"Yes, ma. You told her that at least a thousand times already," Regina said exasperatedly but with a touch of humor in her voice

"I could teach Daphne how to make my famous Kennish pancakes sometime," Mom said after swallowing a spoonful of cornflakes. She always had cereal for breakfast. Always.

_**I would like that, Kathryn. And in turn, I could teach you how to make my chocolate mousse balls. **_Daphne grinned brightly.

I stabbed a fork in my pancake and chewed viciously. It was unfair. Why wasn't I invited to their little cooking spree. Granted, I had no patience and talent whatsoever in cooking but I was here too. I wasn't just some invisible midget.

"And I would teach Bay how to sketch. A little mother-daughter bonding would be nice," Regina said, turning to me. Her eyes were filled with hope and I found myself smiling my first genuine smile since this morning.

"I'd love that!" I said enthusiastically. "I don't know how to sketch! I saw your drawings in Daphne's room once and they were beautiful! Whenever I try to sketch, they always come out looking rough but yours were so soft!"

She chortled. "Thank you, dear,"

"Well, after all these plans have been made…can we go shopping now?" Adrianna said impatiently and excitedly. We all laughed at her eagerness.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**REGINA**

After breakfast, we all piled into Bay's car since it was the biggest and could carry the most stuff. Kathryn drove while Bay sat in the passenger's seat with my family in the backseat. I was really excited for my planned bonding time with Bay. She had looked so downcast when Kathryn and Daphne began organizing their cooking workshop that I had immediately stepped in. It was the perfect response, however, since she had sounded ebullient after the little episode.

"That was a lovely thing for you to do, my dear daughter," My mother murmured in my ear. "And it would be really nice for you to get to know your biological daughter,"

"Thanks, ma," I whispered to her as we pulled out of the huge driveway and began to travel downtown.

We stopped in a boutique called _Charmant _just a few blocks away from the mall. The sign on the door said 'Closed' but Kathryn expertly knocked on the glass partition.

"The owner, Jacque Knowles, is a close friend of mine. I made a consultation with him for our gowns and he gladly closed his entire shop to accommodate us. He's such a dear," she said confidently to us.

I felt awe creeping inside me. Never before had a boutique, especially one as high-fashion as this one, closed especially just for me. I felt, well, like a princess and that was something considering I was a thirty-nine year old woman.

"Kathryn!" A middle-aged, elegantly dressed man swept open the glass door for us. He wore a distinguished plain suit and shined black shoes. His bald head and funky glasses made him looked like a crazy designer. "It's so nice to see you again!"

Kathryn kissed him on each cheek and beamed excitedly at us. "Jacque, these are my friends. Adrianna, Regina, Daphne and my daughter, Bay. I'm sure you've heard about the hospital fiasco and well…here we are,"

"Magnificent!" Jacque inhaled and led us to a humongous room. It had dark red carpeting and velvet walls with bright lights that illuminated the whole room. Mirrors lined up the back wall where a small platform stood erect just before it, a spotlight beaming down directly upon it. A small, mahogany door stood just a little way down and a comfortable looking couch with plush cushions was situated just to our right.

"This is our room for very special guests. My assistants will bring you dresses one-by-one and we shall try them on. You will then stand on that little stage over there where the lighting is best and give your critique. I am especially fond of critique. I believe that my designs will flourish if you give me your honest opinion," Jacque said extravagantly. He snapped his fingers and three ladies wearing slinky black dresses and matching stilettos entered through the discreet door. One of them held a tray with glasses filled with champagne and another held a tray with a plate of sandwiches. I heard my mother gasp quietly as she felt the experience of being pampered. I was sure that Daphne and I were looking impressed by this point. We had never been treated like this. Our shopping sprees mostly consisted of 50% off sales in department stores, never in an expensive shop like this one.

"These are my assistants," Jacque proclaimed. "The dark-haired beauty is Linda, the red-haired one is Pauline and the brunette is Emma. They, along with me, will be helping you try on my fabulous creations!"

"Thank you so much, Jacque!" Kathryn said, beaming up at him

"Well, shall we get started? Who will go first? Ah…you, _my love_" He pointed at me and I flushed

"M-M-Me?" I stuttered, sounding like a fool

_**Yes, Mama. He said you. Now go up there and walk it! **_Daphne said laughingly.

I shrugged and glanced exasperatedly at her. "Oh well, if you say so!"

I walked to the stage and stood on it consciously. The light made me aware of my flaws; the wrinkles and fine lines etched around my face, the fat that was permanently in my body and my thighs that rubbed together. I winced and made a face at my reflection, feeling everybody's eyes boring into me. Jacque appraised me, walking around me with his hand on his chin. Finally, he whispered to his three assistants who slid smoothly out of the room.

"Teal would be a good color on you!" Jacque declared. "As do yellow and a creamy orange!"

Emma, Linda and Pauline came back inside the room holding two dresses each. Linda held two yellow dresses, Pauline two teal gowns and Emma two orange ones.

Jacque snapped his fingers and Emma came forward, handing the orange dresses to me. Jacque led me inside the small room just behind the discreet door and made me strip. I was conscious and aware of the bulging fat but Jacque didn't even take notice. Instead, he zipped me inside one of the orange dresses and paraded me back into the room.

I stood in front of the mirror while Jacque appraised me with sharp eyes. The gown was long and flowing and I thought that I looked okay but apparently, Jacque thought otherwise.

"Orange is too…eh…it washes out your wonderful color. Maybe teal is better on you,"

I was dragged back inside the small room and made to remove the orange dress. I slipped on one of the teal dresses and walked back outside, standing on the small platform.

Jacque's eyes lit up as he saw me in the dress. The dress was teal with alternating stripes of brown and an intricate pattern on the skirt that flowed past my ankles. A sparkling belt with small diamonds decorated the waistline that cinched my hips, making me look thinner than I really was. A scarlet red design drifted up the belt and up to the bodice. The gown only had one strap that rested securely upon my left shoulder.

"Beautiful!" Jacque said. "This is it! This is _the _dress!" His assistants clapped politely while my mother and Kathryn applauded.

I turned to Daphne with my eyebrows raised. "Honey, what do you think?"

_**It looks wonderful on you, mama**_

I looked at Bay and asked the same question. The corners of her lips quirked up in a smile. "You look amazing, Regina,"

I grinned at her.

**UUU**

We got back to the house, huge shopping bags dangling from our wrists. We were all exhilarated and laughing, smiling brightly from our purchases. Aside from the teal gown, Jacque had also given me dark blue pumps and a small necklace with an emerald pendant that complimented my gown well. My mask, which came from Kathryn's friend, Chris Baker, was a sparkling dark blue with huge feathers that adorned the sides.

Mother had purchased a dark red gown with miniscule _fleur de lis _sown in diamonds along the bodice that made her look tall and regal. Her mask was an ivory colored mask that had matching gold _fleur the lis _on the sides. It covered half of her face with rich, black feathers adorning the top, setting off her eyes.

Daphne's dress was a pale pink that set off her hair pleasantly. Her mask had holes on the side to secure it firmly to her face, leaving her hands for her to do signs. It had pink rosebuds and scarlet swirls along with tiny emeralds that glittered under the lights.

The gown chosen by Kathryn was the most luxurious out of all of us. It was a forest green halter-top style with a snug butterscotch-colored belt around the waist, making her appear taller and slimmer. With her soft, blonde locks of hair, she had a slight resemblance to the Greek goddess, Diane. Her mask was attached to a stick, having alternating strands of red and white spiraling down together. It had sapphires adorning the eyes and huge green feathers around the side.

Bay's dress, in my opinion, was the most wonderful out of all of us. It was a deep azure that complimented her coloring and was set off greatly by her dark hair. It was strapless and tight-fitting around the bodice, flattering her voluptuous curves. It had light garnets along the hem along with a few more other gems that I couldn't recognize. It had a swirly pattern, gradually coming up and settling themselves around the skirt. The bodice had numerous gems among them turquoise as well as tiny drops of diamonds and sapphires. It made her eyes sparkle, a twinkling light coming from them that were greatly set off by her mask; a dark black mask embellished with gold sequins and swirls and little droplets of diamonds.

I was sure that during the masquerade, she would be a sight to behold.

"Oh my goodness! I almost forgot! Since the dance would be very formal and elegant…" Kathryn trailed off, biting her lip anxiously. "…every guest would have to have partners!"

"Partners!" Bay said incredulously. "Mom! I can't possibly…Me…I…I don't…ARGH!" She stammered and finally screamed out in frustration.

"Now, Bay, don't overreact. I'm sure you have a friend that would be willing to escort you to the dance," Kathryn said, rolling her eyes

"Ah…Kathryn, would you need help with the seating plan or decorations or…something?" I asked helpfully. I sensed that Daphne wanted to talk to Bay about the escort. I was sure that Daphne would be taking Emmett and she wanted to make sure that Bay would be alright with that. They needed to be alone for some time.

Even though she wasn't my biological daughter, I still knew her well.

"Why, yes! As a matter of fact, I need help with the seating plan!" Kathryn said, smiling brightly at me. "Are you sure you want to help with this?"

"Of course she's sure," Ma said, putting an arm around me, leaving me no room to hesitate or even argue. "And with that in thought, I should probably be going to find myself a partner. Thank you very much, Kathryn and Bay. I had a wonderful shopping spree with the both of you!"

"Oh it doesn't matter, Adrianna," Kathryn murmured. "Now, Regina…I want to ask your opinion on the food…"

She led me off and I turned to look back at Daphne helplessly. I didn't know a thing on what Kathryn was saying.

_Good luck _She mouthed at me and gave me a thumbs up.

I smiled but I was sure that it looked more like a grimace.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**BAY**

A partner! Great, just what I needed. A boy to take to the party. Emmett was out of the question. It would be too awkward. Too uncomfortable. Ty wouldn't go to that kind of party. He wouldn't even put on a tuxedo let alone a mask. Liam was just…unapproachable. And I didn't want to be embarrassed or humiliated if I took Toby. Wilkie…He annoyed me to the point when I wanted to rip his head off. He was a good friend, yes, but he was also too arrogant and obnoxious for my taste.

_**Bay…Can I ask you something? **_Daphne's uncertain voice broke me out of my thoughts. I turned to look at her and found her smiling a little bit hesitantly.

_**Uh sure…what do you want to ask? **_

She bit her lip and cracked her knuckles. _**It's about Emmett…and…he's the only boy I can ask to the party…I wanted to ask if you…if you would mind…**_

Emmett. Emmett at the party. Emmett in a tuxedo and his face hidden by a mask in the dance. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything. I knew that I would have a fucking heart attack if I saw him. My palms would sweat, I would instantly become clumsy…I would be putty under his baby blue eyes. And him…with Daphne. What happened to just seeing what it felt like? Are they even together? Oh God, what if they are? My ex-boyfriend and…what the heck am I even supposed to call Daphne? The supposed biological daughter of the parents I taught all my life and whose family was technically mine? Her and Emmett would be unbearable.

_**Of course. I think that would be a very good idea! **_I attempted at trying to make my voice cheery but to my ears, it was obvious that they were fake.

Apparently Daphne didn't get the memo, though. She smiled brighter than ever, if possible, and gave me the sign for thank you.

Shit! Who was I taking now?

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**JAKE**

_Mr. and Mrs. John Kennish would like to invite you to a masquerade_

_September 26, 6:00 pm_

_La Dominique Cherie Grand Ballroom, Hotel Coriscant_

_RSVP 555-126-213_

The envelope was creamy white, the invitation inside was stiff. My mother had handed it to me wordlessly as I ate my breakfast. The Eggs Benedict I had eaten churned in my mouth. A masquerade! That was way too old-fashioned. Like Romeo and Juliet type. And didn't theses kinds of parties require partners? As in boy-girl partners? Who the fuck would I take?

A face flashed in my mind. Dark curly hair, brooding eyes, rosy pink lips and a smooth complexion. Bay Kennish.

But didn't she have a deaf ex-boyfriend? Not that I was against deaf people, of course. Wasn't she still pining for him? What would she do with me? We hadn't even exchanged intimate words except for a few 'How are you?' a couple of interactions in the halls of Buckner. Besides, I was a little bit intimidated by her. Sometimes. She looked approachable and easy to be with most of the time but she often got that faraway look on her face that made me wonder whether she was thinking of clawing my eyes off.

This was the first time I felt like this for a girl. So confused and insecure about myself. So desperate to hear her voice again and see that smile, that real smile that illuminated her face.

She was beautiful. Not hot or cute. Beautiful in a timeless and perennial way.

Like an angel.

I threw the invitation on my bed and ran my fingers through my hair, making it messier. I grabbed my iPhone and typed in the passcode. The last message I had exchanged with Bay was two days ago. Just a casual hi and a question about the French homework, a class which we both loathed. I stared at the message for a few moments, wondering what I could possibly say to her. 'Hey, do you want to be my partner for the ball your parents are throwing?' No, that would seem too insensitive.

I gawked at the phone for a few more seconds, finally typing out a 'Hello' and 'What's up?'

Her reply came back two minutes and thirteen seconds later. Not that I was counting, of course. Alright, maybe I was. A little.

_There's this stupid ball my parents are throwing. A masquerade. B/S. _  
>This was it. The moment of truth. Where I could possibly be mortified by Bay or be proud that she would be my date for the party.<p>

_Yeah we received an invitation for it. Do we really need to have partners?:) _

_Uh I wanted to ask you about that:/ _

Wait, did she really plan on asking me for the masquerade? Or was I the second or even third person she asked? Or maybe she pitied me because she was the only one I knew in this town?

_Man up, Jake _I told myself _you're acting ridiculous. Just ask her the stupid question!_ I sighed. My conscience was getting to me during these days. I hated it. It made me do things I was once afraid of doing. But it was right, in a way. I needed to man up and just ask her…and also prepare myself for certain rejection.

_Do you want to go to the masquerade with me?_

I sent the message, nervousness gnawing at me from the inside. When she didn't reply for a few seconds, I began to panic and sent another message.

_I mean, as friends of course. Not as boyfriend and girlfriend coz that would be awkward._

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**_  
><em>

**BAY**

Jake had actually asked me to the masquerade! As I was busy pondering this, my phone pinged with a message from him.

_I mean, as friends of course. Not as boyfriend and girlfriend coz that would be awkward. _

I laughed out loud, surprising myself. If only Jake knew that being his girlfriend would be horrible for his health.

It pinged again with another message from Jake. And again. And again.

_Not that it wouldn't be awesome having you as my girlfriend. You're pretty and you're cool but you're not that kind of type. _

_Not the type of girl to fall in love with me! Not the…um…girlfriend type. Or whatever. _

_I sound pathetic and idiotic now, don't I?_

I giggled. He was actually kind of cute when he got all nervous, his lower lip between his teeth and cracking his knuckles, his green eyes lit up with worry.

_Sure, I'd like that! I'll meet you at the ball, kay? _I texted back.

His reply came within seconds. _That's great! Thanks! Ok._

Subconsciously, I began to feel excited for the masquerade.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**WILKIE**

English class with Mr. Barber was boring. Hell, that would be the understatement of the year. English class with Mr. Barber was purgatory. He was thin and reedy, always wearing this stupid polka-dotted bowtie and shoes that went out of style when World War II ended. He was balding, a few stubborn hairs stuck to his shiny head and a voice that droned on and on. He always had a cough and when the weather was cold, Mr. Barber sounded like Darth Vader from the Star Wars movies. He had glasses affixed on top of his pointy nose that were brimming with nose hairs-about the most disgusting thing I ever saw and he also had a huge mole on the tip of his nose. Or was it a wart? Gross.

His nickname among the students was 'Barbed Wire'. Never knew its origins, actually. Maybe it was because he was painful to be with, like said wire. Or maybe it was just because of its similarity to his last name.

Curse Toby for having English with Mrs. Kendall, an agonizingly hot teacher who was unfortunately married to a dentist.

"Today we shall discuss a classic I'm sure most have heard about but not actually read," Mr. Barber's wheezed. Another thing about him, he seemed to hate teenagers, especially me. He was always slipping in remarks and insults during his lectures, his bloated eyes gazing straight at me with those washed out blue irises. I knew I always had a talent for getting under people's skin but that particular knack of mine seemed amplified whenever Mr. Barber was involved. I decided to let this latest jibe slide, though.

I was feeling pretty good today since a rigid invitation had been sitting on the long table when I went to school this morning. It was an invite to a masquerade the Kennishes were holding in three months. It was the one my mother was telling me about.

The one where I had made up my mind to ask Daphne to.

But now that my daydreams had snapped and reality was to be faced that the party was really going to happen, I began to feel alarmed on what I was planning to do. I was pretty sure that Daphne was going to turn me down no matter how many flowers or chocolates I send her. I just wasn't her type of guy…I think. It was a little unnerving, to be honest. I never felt rejection before. Things always came my way.

Having said that, I also never felt this way to a girl.

"And if one particular little rich boy would stop snoozing and start listening, he may actually pull his pathetic grades up!" A feeble yet firm voice sent out of my thoughts. I blinked and nearly screamed like a girl. Mr. Barber's was standing in front of me, his bulging eyes staring at me, anger evident in them. His arms were crossed and a ridiculous sneer that made him look like a decaying corpse was plastered on his face.

"Mr. Wilkes, would you care to explain to me how the classic tale Romeo and Juliet is relevant to our society today?"

"Uh…er…I…" I stammered. Everyone was looking at me, clearly awake. I didn't even know what Romeo and Juliet was about! Wasn't it the story where there were two people and they both die? Wait…there was a movie about this, right? Where the guy from Titanic was Romeo and there was this hot girl who played Juliet. "Uh…Juliet was hot?"

Mr. Barber screamed out in frustration. His face was red, sweat forming on his brow. I knew that he would strangle me right there and then if only he could. I nearly saw smoke coming out of his ears.

But he composed himself, putting on an obviously bogus smile, his eyes still having that sinister angry look in them. "In that case, Mr. Wilkes…I will be requesting a 1000 word essay from you about Romeo and Juliet. It will be due next Tuesday,"

I sighed, knowing that it would be a fruitless task to argue with him. The bell rang and I grabbed my backpack, thankful that it was the end of English class. God, how I hated that class and especially that evil, foul teacher.

"Hey Wilkie," Clover's annoying, high-pitched voice came from my side. I nearly wrung her neck in frustration. I didn't really need her right now. I remembered how she had taunted Daphne during our cooking class and I had to clench my fists to keep myself from pulling out every strand of her dyed hair. She was vile, a malevolent creature hiding inside a sixteen-year-old female body.

"Hi Clover," I said through gritted teeth. "What do you want?"

"Did you get that invitation for the Kennishes' soiree?" She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes on me. Another time, this would have made me turn on the charms and even suggest that we go to the janitor's closet for some heavy make-out session. But ever since I met Daphne…it was as if I only had eyes for her. It was cheesy, I knew it but since when did love not become cheesy and corny?

"Yes we did," I struggled to keep my anger in check and instead focused on finding a hasty exit. I didn't really need Clover's destructive ways today.

"I was wondering if we could go together," She pouted, her shiny lips pulling up. She looked at me from under her eyelashes, her light blue eyes with noticeable desire. Okay, this was getting a little creepy. Clover trailed one pointed, manicured finger up my arm and I almost shuddered with fright. I pulled away from her and forced myself not to puke on her velvet Prada pumps.

"Sorry but I'm already going with someone else," I said coldly. Someone I hoped to say yes would be more exact but what the heck? I would say that I was gay and looking for a boyfriend if it meant getting away from Clover.

Her lips pulled down, trembling. I guess that she had never felt rejection before. "With that idiotic deaf girl?" She hissed, her blue eyes suddenly darker.

I felt my hands shaking with suppressed indignation. How dare she call Daphne idiotic? She was the most wonderful, amazing, talented and selfless girl I ever met! Whereas Clover was the sluttiest, the most disgusting creature I ever met. The Whore of all Whores calling someone so utterly perfect idiotic was so humorous, the irony was killing me inside.

I took a step towards her and she retreated, looking a little scared. Good. I put my hands on her shoulders and leaned towards her, making my voice as low as possible. "If you ever call her idiotic again, I will make sure that it would be your biggest regret in your life," My voice was menacing and I stepped away from her, wrinkling my nose from the onslaught of her perfume.

Clover blinked, recovering in an instant. She looked at me from head to toe with palpable loathing. She huffed and stomped down the hallway slamming open the door to the ladies' bathroom and berating some lower-grade girls for being there. I smirked at the sight of Clover yelling at them while the girls valiantly tried to exit. Students were whispering and pointing at me but I took no notice of them.

Toby walked up to me, a confounded expression on his face. "Is that Clover yelling at those girls I see? What's up with that? And why is everyone staring at you?"

I smiled smugly at him. "Tell you later, bro. By the way, do you have a copy of Romeo and Juliet?"

He looked at me as if he couldn't believe his ears. "What the fuck is that?"

I shook my head. "It's a book by someone who died a long time ago. Barbed Wire assigned me a thousand-word essay on that when I couldn't answer his question. So I'm assuming that you don't have the book?"

He thought for a moment and I resisted the urge to burst out laughing at the sight of him thinking. "No but I bet Daphne has,"

I stopped in my tracks, earning some cussing from the boy behind me who bumped into my torso. Another time, I would have picked a fight but I was too much in shock from hearing Daphne's name coming from Toby's lips. Did he know? I snuck a look at his satisfied face.

As if he read my thoughts, he smiled wider at me, looking superior. "I know you like her!"

"I-I-I do not!" I sputtered, trying to think of a way to salvage this situation.

He snorted. "Yeah right. As if I don't see the googly eyes you make at her or the way you always talk about her or whenever we hang out at my place you always magically look at her house to see if she's there. Face it, Wilkie…you have a little crush on my biological sister who was switched with the girl I grew up with when they were infants,"

I was taken aback from the bombardment of intelligent words coming straight out of Toby's lips.

"And don't try to deny it," He warned as soon as I opened my mouth to tell him that he was ridiculous for thinking that way.

I sighed in surrender. "Okay fine! I like her, okay! As in like _like _her! And…"

"And?" He tapped his foot in impatience. I knew I had to get this out somehow. The bell was going to ring any moment and despite my pride, I knew that Toby could help me win Daphne over.

"And I was planning to ask her to the party your parents are throwing," I mumbled, a rush of heat suddenly entering my cheeks. Why, in the name of holy snot, am I blushing?

Toby laughed out loud, resulting in a few dirty looks from passing students. He ignored them and continued laughing, wiping imaginary tears from his eyes. I punched him in the shoulder, glaring at him. Some friend he was.

"Shut up about it! And you may not, in under any circumstances, tell her or Bay or your parents or even Regina and her mother!" I suddenly panicked. Toby had a big mouth and could easily spill the beans before the party. I would look like a complete fool in front of everyone, not to mention Daphne.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it," He grumbled, suddenly serious again. "But Wilkie, if you ever hurt her…I'll be sure to kick your ass even though you're my best friend,"

I grinned at him. "So will you help me out?"

"Help out with what?" He asked blankly. I rolled my eyes. Serious and intelligent Toby couldn't last five minutes. I pitied the boy in the real world. Kidding.

"You know…win her over and stuff. Get her to come to the ball with me," I nudged Toby playfully

His expression cleared up. "Oh! That! Yeah, sure! Whatever. How are you planning to do it?"

The confidence that came in earlier when I told Toby slowly ebbed away. "I have no idea,"

Toby suddenly smiled, his face lit up. He had that sneaky look of his and I was beginning to feel alarmed.

"That, my friend, is why we need a girl,"

"You can't tell her or even Bay!" I yelped. Toby was such a stupid dog sometimes

He shook his head. "I was going to say or the internet but you beat me to the punch,"

"And how in the name of Playboy magazine is the internet going to help us?"

"There's something called Google. We can just type in 'How to woo a girl' or whatever you want to type in and _voila_!"

"But she's different from other girls!" I tried to persuade him from this crazy idea of his. "For starters, she can't hear. She's not like any other girl I've dated. She's fun, she's comfortable with herself. She doesn't like wearing make-up, not that she needs to, and she's really cool and well…down to earth,"

He looked at me in contempt. "Before you get too sappy with me, let's just start with the basics and right now googling ways to woo a girl is a better plan than having no plan at all,"

"So that's our plan A?" I asked, making sure

He nodded his head confidently. "Yep,"

"And what if it fails?" Toby's ideas were always bound to fail. Most of the time, anyway.

"Then we move on to plan B,"

"And when _that _fails?"

"Plan C!"

"So we just continue on until plan Z until the party, which by the way is only 3 months away,"

He rolled his eyes. "Have faith, you of little belief,"

_BRRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG_

The bell rang just in time. I was about to castrate Toby. He should thank his lucky stars he didn't have French with me.

It was lunchtime and Toby and I were in the school library, a place where you could rarely find us. I didn't even know Buckner had a library! But I guess that was where nerds like Norbert Beakers and Penn 'Pee-pee' Purges went to hang out. It was also where the computers were located so that was where Toby and I were, in front of the computer screen bickering.

"I don't think this idea is going to work," I said seriously, staring at Google's homepage.

"Do you have a better one?" He asked stubbornly

I thought for a moment. "No,"

"Then it's this or nothing at all,"

"Have you even gotten a plan B?" I asked sarcastically

"I haven't gotten to that part yet," He admitted

We continued bickering for a little while until the ancient librarian, Ms. Jenkins, approached us, her face set disapprovingly. She smelled like cat's urine and rotten eggs. I gagged, trying to disguise it by coughing. Toby meant to kick the legs of the chair I was sitting on but he kicked my shin instead. My eyes watered in pain as I tried not to scream at him.

"Is anything wrong?" Ms. Jenkins asked sweetly

"Uh, no ma'am," Toby said nervously

"Well then shut up and go to work!" She snapped, walking away

"I swear she has PMS all the time," Toby muttered

I glanced behind us, sighing in relief when I saw Ms. Jenkins out of earshot and calmly stamping books at her desk.

"Okay, let's type in '_How do you make a girl to fall in love with you'_" Toby said, tapping his fingers on the keyboard. I held my breath as he pressed enter and clicked on the first link he saw.

"Buy her flowers," I read. "Well that's no use. I don't think Daphne's even the type of girl to fall in love just because a guy brought her flowers,"

"And you're such an expert on her," Toby said under his breath

I elbowed him in the ribs let out a cry, causing Ms. Jenkins to stop her work and gaze at us with her beady little eyes. I smiled reassuringly back at her, trying to put on some of the ol' Wilkie charm but she seemed immune, instead shooting me a dark look and going back to her work.

"Compliment her everytime you see her," Toby read in a monotone. "How about this one? You can hang out at my place after school and compliment her when you see her,"

"Yeah that looks alright," I agreed. "But what do I say?"

"Oh, Daphne! Your hair looks so beautiful today! You're like the sun to my moon! You're face makes me want to rip out my soul and give it to you! Oh kiss me, my love! Kiss me and never let me go!" Toby said in a horrible imitation of my voice

"Ha-Ha," I said sarcastically

He chuckled. "Hey, you gotta admit…That was funny. Freaking hilarious, actually,"

"Seriously, what do I say?" I asked worriedly, running a hand down my face

"Just tell her she looks pretty or something. That should be pretty easy," Toby advised

"And after that?"

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Woah! Let's take this a step at a time, okay? Just compliment her this afternoon and after that, we'll see from there,"

"That means you have no idea what we're going to do afterwards, right?"

"Yep! Glad you know,"

I closed my eyes and counted to 10, breathing in through my nose and trying to suppress the urge to choke my idiotic best friend.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**EMMETT**

The day was bright and as clear as a dewdrop, the cerulean sky the perfect color for a picture. I smiled to myself and took out my red camera from my backpack. I snapped a shot of the sky and a candid shot of some students using their hands to communicate. It was lunchtime but I was too busy to eat. I still had to do my Homeroom homework, which I had conveniently forgotten to do the night before since I was too busy arranging my newest photos in a fresh album.

I could have done that task in about thirty minutes but one of my recent snapshots included a picture of Bay's billboard against a starry night as a backdrop and also the first Axe Girl she had shown me.

Which led me to reminisce, regret, blame myself, quell the longing to call _her _and also and finally try to move on; failing horribly.

I turned, feeling a presence behind me. See, when you're deaf, you learn to use your other senses more, your dependence on them increased ten-fold. Sometimes, you also develop a sixth sense, like feeling that someone or something is behind you, like I just did right now.

It was Daphne with an armload of books and an exhilarated smile. She dropped down on the grass beside me, giving me a jaunty wave. I turned my red camera towards her and pushed the shutter quickly. She shoved me a little bit yet laughed.

I always wondered how a laugh sounded like.

Specifically, _her _laugh. And even _her _voice.

Get it out of your head, Emmett. She's never going back to someone as worthless as you. Just accept the truth that she's moved on and is probably in the arms or having her mouth dominated by that douche you saw with her the last time.

The thought of Bay with another boy made me want to kill someone.

Instead, I grinned at Daphne. **Why are you so happy?**

**The Kennishes are throwing a masquerade on September. It's going to be really cool with people in gowns and masks and dancing in this huge ballroom! Kathryn said that she might even consider having a chocolate fountain and canapés and champagne.**

**Sounds fun. **I said sarcastically. I didn't get why rich people had to throw parties that were no fun. They were always so formal, whispering behind others' backs and just showing off their wealth in the form of designer gowns and exorbitant jewels. And I especially didn't understand why Daphne liked going to those kinds of parties.

She didn't appear to notice the ridicule in my voice, though. She continued blabbering on about that stupid party. **I know right! And Kathryn already bought us our gowns and masks. Mom looks so cool in hers, it really fits her perfectly. Mine's pink. **

**Why are you telling me this? **I rudely interrupted her hand signs. I was too upset to apologize as hurt flashed across my face. I didn't want to hear about the dumb masquerade where Bay would probably be, wearing an elegant gown that made her look a thousand more times as beautiful, a mask covering her ethereal face…dancing with another guy…

I rubbed my face with my hand, trying to rid myself of the wrath that suddenly flared up inside me.

**I was planning on asking you to go with me…** Daphne looked crush, unmistakable discomfort in her face.

I sighed. **Give me one good reason to go**

She smiled mischievously. **Bay is going to be there. **

I scowled at her but inside, my heart picked up, beating so hard that I thought that it was going to just jump out of my chest. God, Daphne knew how to push my buttons. She was-she was-ARGH! Infuriating! Damn! Curse her for knowing me too well. Although this could be my once in a lifetime chance to get my ex-girlfriend back. I wanted Bay back, that much was obvious but was I willing to go to a lame party just for her?

The answer was obvious as day. Of course. I would do anything just to get her back. Just to feel her soft lips, her warm hands and her never-ending compassion for me again. I wanted to be inside her paint studio again, analyzing her artwork and showing her my pictures. I wanted her to rant out to me even though I didn't understand half of what she's saying. I wanted to be there for her and knowing that I would be the only one that would make her completely happy again. I wanted the feel of her arms around my waist as she rode at the back of my motorcycle, her chest pressed into my back letting me hear the pounding of her heart.

I smiled ruefully at Daphne. **Do I have to wear a mask and a tuxedo?**

**You worry about the tux and I'll be the one to worry about the mask! **She signed excitedly. **Oh my gosh! Thank you Emmett! Thank you!**

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~  
><strong>

**KATHRYN**

Denise and I were shopping in 'Madame Madeux', a shop that sold stunning decoration pieces downtown. Granted, it was a little expensive what with the personal assistant and decorator to help you with your party but it was worth every penny. Denise and I had decided that the masquerade would be a charity event wherein our guests would be handed small velvet sachets to put their cash or cheque donations in, which would be collected by us when the event ended. The money would be donated to The Well Foundation, a charity that aims to build wells in Africa to supply less-fortunate Africans with suitable drinking water.

"And what were you planning for the design?" Robyn Alderacs asked. She was a thirty-something woman, very elegant in a pressed suit and her hair tied up in a bun. Denise had seen her designs in a recent party she attended in New York. She had confided in me that the room's decoration was fabulous with a Sleeping Beauty theme and the guests wearing gowns with inlaid jewels.

"We're planning something very romantic, very outdoorsy-slash-elegant type. Obviously, it has to be ravishing!" Denise gushed, taking a sip of champagne that had been brought to us only moments ago.

"We were thinking of three choices," I told Robyn. "The first one is a Victorian-esque type. Gold, red and dark velvet should be nice colors. The second one, however, is a Fur Elise theme; very proper very classic and very stylish. The last one would be _A Midsummer Night's Dream _motif. Waiters dressed as dreamy woodland creatures, garlands hanging from the ceilings, smoke effects and romantic music. What do you think, Ms. Alderacs?"

She thought for a moment, tapping her chin with her index finger and jotting down a few notes on her initials embossed planner. Finally, she looked up with a charming smile on her face.

"The Victorian theme would be very nice, very tasteful but it's a little too overused already. I have already planned five parties with Victorian themes. It's classy but overrated, I'm afraid,"

"Well, we don't want that!" Denise gasped. "Ms. Alderacs, spare no cost! I'll be paying for everything! I can't plan a thing and that's what Kathryn is here for. Please just make sure that this masquerade is one of the loveliest parties to be ever attended,"

Robyn gave a tinkling laugh. "For starters, please call me Robyn. And if I may ask, how did you come up with the idea of a charity party?"

I chuckled. "It all started with Denise wanting to show off her new Chanel gown to her newest boyfriend. It spiraled into a party that wants to help people in Africa have suitable drinking water. It was pretty fun and hectic to plan,"

"I like the Midsummer's Night Dream better," Robyn said thoughtfully. "It's much more poised and refined and it's a very tasteful theme. I've never done a Shakespeare-esque theme before and I'd gladly rise to the challenge,"

"Midsummer's Night Dream it is!" Denise said confidently, gulping down the last of her champagne.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**WILKIE**

This was it. The moment of truth.

I was going to text Daphne and ask her to the masquerade with me.

My heart was beating so fast, it felt as if it would burst out of my chest. I was breathing hard and sweating, looking like I had just finished a marathon as the winner; not a good look for me at the moment. My face was red, my hair messy and sticking up. Who knew that a girl would do this to me?

I gulped and with shaking fingers, extracted my phone from the pocket of my slacks. I was shaking as I typed down my passcode and accessed Daphne's contact number.

I closed my eyes and breathed through my nose, trying to calm myself down. I knew that I was acting like a complete cow at the moment. I didn't look so macho and impressive now, didn't I? But it was different. This was Daphne Paloma Vasquez we're talking about. The only girl with the power to see through my rough exterior and understand the real me. The only girl whom I melted as if I were putty at the mere mention of her name.

The girl whom I hoped I would take to the masquerade.

Before I chickend out, I quickly typed down what I wanted to say and pressed send.

_Do you want to come to the masquerade with me? –W _

* * *

><p><strong>Did you guys like it? I thought some of the scenes were just fluff but I don't know!:) <strong>

**Follow me on twitter: KAYLAthelion**

**By the way, the user who submits the best character will win 3 prizes! **

**A) Credits in the chapter of the masquerade **

**B)The possibility of his/her character being a permanent one in this story  
><strong>

**C) A PM with a sneak peek to a future chapter! But you have to promise me that you won't leak it because there will be certain...ah...consequences **

**READ AND REVIEW! LOVE YOU GUYS! **


	9. Melancholy

**Hi guys!:) This is probably a short chapter, well shorter than the last one and thank you to Grey Eyed and SamWlover for their character suggestions but in the end, I had to go with SamWlover's character. Sorry, Grey Eyed! No hard feelings...hopefully:D**

**I have a new username on twitter! WAHEY! It's: kayladelion and don't ask me why.**

**There's Emmett/Bay at the end, really really slight one. Two more chapters and it's the masquerade and I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen in chapter 10. Oh well:)**

**Anyone watch the Hunger Games yet? Is it any good? Oh yeah, and thanks to princesscleo123 for our amazing conversations on how much we both hate the casting for the 13 Reasons Why movie.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN SWITCHED AT BIRTH**

* * *

><p><strong>WILKIE<strong>

Her reply comes a few minutes later, a quick cure to my agonizing dilemma. I was choosing between calling her and asking for her answer bluntly or just letting her take her time. I was glad I chose the latter or more specifically, my phone beeped right on time. I wouldn't be able to take her reply well.

_I'm sorry, Wilkie but I'm actually going with Emmett. Sorry and I hope you find another date to the masquerade -D_

In the days that followed, I went through four of the five stages of rejection.

**First stage: Denial. **

She liked me. She was just too afraid of what would happen. We were so different; I was rich and she was…well, middle-class. I was a player and she wanted a long-term commitment. And the most obvious, I was hearing and she was deaf. She probably didn't want to go through the kind of pain both Emmett and Bay were dealing with right now. Even if she could speak and Emmett couldn't…she was just too scared.

She would talk to me during the masquerade. She would confess her love for me. Bay and Emmett would go back to being together. By some miracle, both Emmett and Daphne would be able to hear again. Toby would get on with some girl and we'd all live happily ever after. When we reach the age of eighty-five, we'd all reminisce and laugh at all what had happened when we were lovesick teenagers. We would tell our children and our children's children our stories and we'd all die peacefully, holding the hands of our loved ones.

**Second stage: Anger**

What did _he _have that I didn't? Alright, they were best friends but didn't they get tired of each other? Sure, he rode a motorcycle and always wore leather jackets but weren't cars safer? Didn't girls like holding hands with their boyfriends while riding in the passenger's seat? You couldn't do that while riding in a motorcycle, for sure. He played drums but I could play guitar and even though Toby was our vocalist, I could sing too! And _he _couldn't! He can't even speak, for crying out loud! Girls always fall for guys in a band with their own car who can play the guitar and can sing for them! Heck, I even wrote a song for her!

Daphne was just toying with me. Didn't girls love to play games? I bet even non-hearing ones weren't an exception to that well-known fact. Maybe she just wanted to get me jealous. Maybe she wanted me to fight for her, to prove my undying love for her like all the guys did in the chick flicks girls usually liked to watch.

I wanted to kill Emmett. He had Bay and now he wants to have Daphne too? I saw the only girl who made my heart beat this way and he had to go and steal her away from me? That was pathetic. That was sick. That was what low-life jerks and scumbags did. That kind of thing always happened in cliché and creepy romance novels. And because of the wondrous deeds of the universe, it just happened in my life.

**Third Stage: Bargaining**

If I could swim fifty laps in one hour, Daphne would suddenly text with revelations of her love and devotion to me. I did fifty laps in forty-five minutes in my family's private swimming pool but of course, no text.

If I manage to eat all my vegetables, our doorbell will ring and Daphne would be standing on the steps, her gorgeous hair windblown and her soft hands signing quickly. But I wouldn't bother to read her signs. I would just pull her towards me and kiss her. I forced the vegetables down my throat and waited patiently for the doorbell to ring. After five hours, though, I gave up.

If I got an A+ on my English report, she would be waiting for me after school, leaning against the door of my car. She would casually ask me if I still wanted to go to the masquerade with her and I would just smirk at her, before crashing down my lips to hers. I did get an A+ on my report and as the bell rang, I hurried down the steps of Buckner Hall. I scanned the parking lot eagerly, my eyes alighting on my car. But there was no Daphne.

If I could manage not to swear or curse for an entire day, she would be mine. That was the hardest one. I didn't say fuck when a seventh-grader stepped on my foot. I didn't say shit when someone bumped into me during art class, making my hand jerk resulting in a nasty red swipe across my interpretation of still life. I didn't say bullshit when another rumor was passed onto me about our gym teacher and a student making out in the teacher's lounge during lunchtime. I survived twenty-four hours without a single curse word dropping from my lips. But there was still no Daphne.

**Fourth Stage: Depression**

I couldn't sleep. Whenever I closed my eyes at night, all I could see was her radiant face with that unique smile of hers. I'd toss and turn in my bed, consumed with the desire of wanting her. I couldn't eat. I didn't care about my grades, my appearance or anything. I only cared about seeing her.

My life was an endless black hole filled with the thoughts of hers. I began to write sappy poetry. I refused to come out of my room. It was pathetic, actually. A girl had never made me this way before. My parents were starting to worry about me, a first for them. They dragged me to a therapist, Dr. Paige Skye. Not that our three sessions together had made a difference. During the first session, I sat stoic and silent, not uttering a single word for an hour. She got tired of me and sent me home. The second session the next week, I began to feed her lies. She accepted it blindly, though and so did my parents. The sessions have become some sort of sick cycle, me repeating lies about my school and family life, all the while thinking of Daphne. I was careful not to mention her name in the presence of anyone. But I think that Toby had a few suspicions that she was the cause of this new change in my behavior. He was worried for me, I could see that in his face whenever he looked at me.

I only wished that _she _was worried for me as well.

**Fifth Stage: Acceptance**

Yeah, haven't crossed that line yet. Haven't even come close to this stage. I'm still alternating between the four stages with no plans to come across this.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**EMMETT**

It was Saturday and Mom made me blueberry waffles with bacon at the side, toasted just the way I liked it. She was reading something on her laptop, glasses on with her brow furrowed in concentration. I took a sip of the hot coffee and began to dig in with my breakfast.

A slight vibration in the table caused me to look up. Mom had pointed the laptop screen towards me. I squinted my eyes and leaned forward in order to read the email that had been sent to her.

_Lil sis,_

_It's been a long time, isn't it? Everything's okay here in Washington. I was thinking if Roxanne, me and Brett coming there for two weeks in a month or so. If you don't want us to crowd your house, we'll be happy to stay in a hotel. _

_How's Emmett? How's he doing in Carlton? Brett's football team won a game three weeks ago. They're going to compete in the finals in about a year's time. We're excited for him and we're planning on sending him to camp this summer but Roxanne worries about him. She thinks he'll hit his head or break his arm. I tell her not to worry but you know how mothers are. _

_Well, Melody, hope you can reply soon! Roxanne sends her love to both you and Emmett, Brett says hi and asks if you could make your blueberry cheesecake. I'm looking forward to your cooking too. _

_-Carl_

My Uncle Carl Roxton was my mother's brother, two years older than her. He was deaf, a trait he and my mother both inherited from their parents. Their youngest sister was lucky, though. Aunt Grace wasn't deaf. She could hear perfectly well and was living in Italy, working as an art professor. The last time I had seen her was thanksgiving last year, which we celebrated in my mom's childhood home.

Uncle Carl had married a hearing girl, Roxanne Summers, a proof that hearing and deaf people could have relationships and still make it work out. They've been married for about eight years now and as a result, my cousin Brett, who was a year older than me. Since Aunt Roxy was infertile, she couldn't have babies anymore and I knew that she considered Brett as a living miracle, the reason why she babied him too much.

Brett was partially deaf. He could hear sounds but they were muffled and you had to speak really close to him. He could speak remarkably well and didn't need a hearing aid. Truth was, I envied Brett a lot. Compared to me, he was an overachiever; straight A's, football player, knew how to skateboard and he had pretty loud taste in music; preferring the rock and metal genre.

**What did you say?** I signed, asking Mom

**Yes, of course. **She signed back. **I haven't seen Carl in over a year and I know that it would do you and Brett good to have some time together. **

**Are they going to be here until the masquerade?**

**What masquerade?** I didn't realize I haven't told my mother yet. She would approve, though, since I would be going with Daphne. Bay was still a sore spot for her. She believed that it was Bay's fault that I got depressed, which is untrue. It was my fault, in a way.

**The Kennishes are throwing this party with masks and everything on the twenty-sixth of September. Daphne asked me to be her date and I accepted. **

**Will Bay be there? **I ducked my head, feeling my mother's stern gaze on me.

**Yes. **I finally looked up. Her expression was calm, serene, unreadable.

**I don't want you getting hurt, Emmett**

**I won't. I'll be with Daphne, I promise. I won't do anything stupid or rash or really immature. **

She smiles at me ruefully. **Will you need a tuxedo?**

I make a face at her, sticking out my tongue and wrinkling my nose. **It's the Kennishes. A rich people party. Of course I need a penguin suit. **

******~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**Sometimes, all you ever want to do is fade away  
>Everything sucks when you're alive<br>Everyone wants you dead  
>You're made to put through the motions<br>Nobody cares  
>But when you die<br>Everyone suddenly loves you  
>They suddenly can't live without you.<br>Hypocrites.**

The stinging words he gave me earlier hurt. They were thrown at me from his filthy mouth like arrows finding their way to the bull's eye. I've learned to put up an emotional barrier around me, I've learned to let go, and I've learned to never take it directly to the hurt. But it still hurts. It's still painful.

I see them, the kids at school with perfect fathers giving them everything they've ever wished for and more. Yet they still complain, they whine, they say words against their parents and all the while I want to scream at them that at least they have parents. At least their parents care. My father's a sick, abusive bastard. My mother's too scared to speak up.

They met each other ten years ago while she had run to the bank with her mother as a rising model. He was with his father, learning the ropes since he was going to be the sole heir to the bank. She told me it was love at first sight. It was a perfect marriage, they were a perfect couple. He was a handsome, rich fellow and she was a beautiful model. She would have never guessed that a monster lived inside me. That he flew into violent rages that gave her bruises on her body. That he would be the reason why she would quit her modeling career and abandon her children, turning instead to sleeping pills to cure the pain.

I shut both of them out of my mind. It's futile to worry about them. As soon as I'm eighteen, I'm out of here. I'll be gone. There was no one to miss me anyway. I was a pest living in their household. Except Lily was here. Lily, my seven-year-old sister, the only reason why I was still here. She was innocent, fresh as a butterfly. She refused to drink in the violence that happened around her everyday. She would sing to me, caress my wounds with her soft fingers during the dead of the night. I would fall asleep, my arms around her, listening to her heavy breathing. She was the only one who loved me.

Lily enters my room and I sit up on the bed, grinning at her while trying to hide the pain that erupts when I moved my body too quickly.

"You're brooding again," Her voice is melodious, almost as if she's singing her words

"Couldn't help it," I smile again but the prickling pain gets the better of me and I grimace instead. "I was thinking of unicorns,"

"The pink ones?"

"Even better, the pink _and _purple ones. The ones that let princesses ride them while the leprechauns and the dwarves guard the pretty princesses. They live in sugar castles, didn't I tell you that? The roads are made with caramel and the trees are made of fudge and there's a giant chocolate fountain in the middle of the palace," Lily loves stories and since I've read all the Brothers Grimm fairytales to her, I've taken up to making up stories myself.

"What's the palace made of?" Lily yawns and lays her head on my chest. I can smell her strawberry shampoo and I wrap my arms around her, holding her close.

"They're made of spun sugar and chocolate bars like the one in Willy Wonka but the chocolate bars here don't melt. And when the night comes, there are two moons in the sky and the fairies come out. They're little sparkling lights that dance around, playing in the air. They wear dresses made of leaves and spider webs and they can make magic with their wands. The princess falls asleep to their laughter and the sounds of their music,"

"Tell me more about the princess," Lily says sleepily, rubbing her eyes and stretching her chubby little arms

"Well, everyday she has a new gown that she makes herself. Sometimes, she dips her thread in the sky so the fabric comes out blue with puffs of white. Sometimes, she dips her thread in the sunset so her gown comes off as red with tiny beads of orange and pink. She loves to paint and the palace is filled with her paintings. She has a special unicorn that she rides through the woods and a pure white Pegasus. She loves music, she writes songs and plays the harp and the flute. Her hands move across the strings of the harp delicately, lightly skimming it and she makes the most beautiful music ever. Everyone dances to her music. Everyone,"

I look at Lily who has her eyes shut close, fast asleep. She's snoring slightly and I stroke her blond hair, untying the tangles and the snarls. Taking care not to wake her up, I lean over her, taking the A4-sized notebook on my nightstand and the soft, lead pencils.

My sketchbook was given to me by my grandmother, my mother's mother who lives in London. My mom was originally British but she moved to America to pursue her modeling career. Dad hated grandmum; they both couldn't stand each other. Grandmum was the nicest lady you could ever meet. She always gave you a gift once a year, whenever we would see her and when we visited, she would always bake us cookies and pie. A year ago, she had given me a thick, leather-bound sketchbook as a birthday gift. She had always known how much I loved to draw.

I open the sketchbook to a fresh page and settle down the dark lead of my pencil on the thick paper. I close my eyes and stay still for a moment, listening to Lily's soft breathing.

My hand comes to life, as if it had a soul of its own. A round, heart-shaped face forms on the middle of the paper. From there, my hand makes quick strokes, shaping dark wavy hair and a slender neck. I shade and shade until the body is finished; until it's perfect.

It's six-thirty pm by the time I finish my sketch. Lily's still sleeping so I keep my sketchbook and shut my eyes.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**BAY**

He's here. He's standing in front of Buckner Hall's steps, wearing a plaid shirt under his usual leather jacket. He leans on his motorcycle, holding a package, ignoring the curious stares arriving students throw his way.

**I need to talk to you. **I look around desperately, wanting Daphne to suddenly appear but he meets my eyes and it's evident that I'm the one he's referring to. My heart beats as fast as a hopping kangaroo as I approach him. I smoothen down my hair, nervously patting down and stop. I'm not supposed to be feeling this weird tingling in the bottom of my stomach. We're over. I'm supposed to have been over him. It's been, what? Two months. I should have moved on already.

**_What's it about?_** I try to keep my voice light then give up. He can't hear me so I settle on trying to keep my expression casual and neutral instead. That one proves to be a little harder.

Emmett's eyes flick away as he shifts the package, freeing his hands to communicate. **Mom made me drop off this package. She said it was a journal for your school's guidance counselor. She didn't have the time to drop it off this morning so she made me do it instead. **

**_Oh, okay. Can I have it then? I'll give it to Ms. Edwards. _**I lean towards him, holding out my hands for the package.

It's as if we were magnets. We both simultaneously incline towards each other, our hands outreached. His perfume and natural scent engulfs me, entrapping me in an invisible bubble. I take the package from him and our hands brush against each other, sending sparks coursing through me. I can't breathe and I struggle for air. He meets my eyes, his azure ones into my dark ones. He's as entranced as I am and I don't want our little moment to end.

But the bell rings; that stupid bell ruins our time together. He pulls away, his face slightly red, his lips mashed together.

**You better get going.** He signs. He swings a leg over his bike and straps his helmet on. I want to crush that freaking bell to pieces.

I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself. Heat rushes into my cheeks, nearly stopping me from speaking.

**_Thanks and uh…take care of yourself. _**

He roars off, his bike sending dust and smoke my way but this time, I don't even care.

He doesn't even look back.


	10. Abigail Rose

**Hey guys:) So I totally understand if none of you are reading my stories right now since I haven't uploaded in a while...I know, pretty infuriating of me since I have to put up feeble excuses for not posting this sooner:p**

**Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm getting delayed in posting because I'm trying to write a book:p Yup, an actual book with my own characters and all that stuff. And in reality, it's really hard:/ Hahaha:))**

**MAJOR WILKIE/DAPHNE IN THIS CHAPTER! I didn't edit much so I think there might be typos and errors here. Sorry about that!  
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**My twitter's kayladelion so if you want to follow me...go ahead! **

**I won't delay you any longer! Just a disclaimer and then you can read on~**

**DISCLAIMER: I will never own Switched at Birth *sigh*  
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><p><strong>BAY<strong>

_I lay down as fire rained  
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That was as far as I had ever gotten.

My mind was still reeling from my encounter with Emmett two days ago. Pathetic right? Not being able to get over a guy after three months of being over. But then again, when was I ever the classy one?

Regina had come over yesterday, smack in the middle of Mom and Daphne's cooking time. I was staring morosely at them, picking out my split ends and sighing when Regina had barged in, looking breathless and holding packages under her arms.

"Good morning everyone!" She had said cheerfully

Mom had looked flustered but she quickly recovered herself and smiled back brightly at my biological mother. "Good morning Regina. Are you here to join me and Daphne's cook-off?"

_**We're making sweet potato casserole. **_Daphne had said enthusiastically, a bright orange splatter on her apron. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail but little tendrils stuck to her sweaty face. She and Mom had looked so much alike that I had been looking at them jealousy for the past hour or so.

Regina waved her free hand. "Oh no. I can't cook anything, always burning the food! I was here for Bay, actually. I had a little free time and I was wondering whether you'd like me to show you how to sketch,"

I had sat up, intrigued. This was one of the rare moments that Regina had actually reached out to me. I had lost hope of her ever teaching me how to draw and it had surprised me that she still remembered. That gave me a little spark inside and I quickly said yes. Somehow we had ended up in my garage. She had given me a medium-sized sketchbook and soft lead pencils. She had brought her old sketchbook along and I had flipped through the drawings, becoming more and more entranced with each sketch. She did sketches of Daphne, Adrianna and even Ty. She did self-portraits and still life, the latter looking so real that it was almost as if it was drawn in 3D. It was amazing.

While she was showing me how to sketch, we talked about everything. It was funny because once we started talking, everything just poured out. I asked her about Angelo and while she found it hard to talk about him, she still answered most of my questions. She asked me about Ty and I told her that he had written to me recently, telling me about what he was doing in their base camp. She told me about her high-school and college days, her dreams of once becoming an artist and a gallery owner and her days with Daphne. In turn, I told her about living with my mom and dad, my trivial fights with Toby and how I never seemed to get algebra. She had laughed at that one, telling me that I had inherited my lack of math skills from her.

She had asked me about Emmett.

I had surprised myself. I told her everything that happened. I had cried when I told her about me breaking up with him and she paused in her sketching for a little while and held me in her arms.

It felt…nice.

In the end, she advised me to take up a new hobby, to take my mind off Emmett. I was doubtful at that since she suggested sports like volleyball and swimming but she quickly caught on that I wasn't athletic. She suggested designing clothes and sewing but she dismissed that idea when she saw my expression. Finally, she told me about channeling my pent-up emotions and anger through ways other than my art.

She told me about poetry.

I had never known that she liked to read poetry. She showed me her collection; books of poems by Tennyson, Poe, Cummings and a lot more. She let me borrow those books and I quickly fell in love with poems; they gave you snapshots of the turmoil that the poet was going through without giving you the whole picture. Kind of like art but without the visible imagery.

I promised her that I would try my hand at poetry.

Which leads me to the crappy verse I was trying to make.

My yellow-pad was filled with cross-outs, doodles and random words. I had only gotten so far as the beginning. I never seemed to move on to the second line. I always got stuck.

I crossed out my previous beginning and poised my pen to start again.

_Velvet arms around me._

It sounded quite alright but here was the moment wherein I got stuck again.

I rolled my eyes and took a break, going downstairs. Toby was playing Call of Duty in the living room and I rolled my eyes at my childish brother who was very focused on his game. I walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Mom and Dad weren't here. They were at a luncheon or something.

There was a piece of Lemon Square sitting on a plate so I grabbed that and munched on it as I walked back to my room. When I saw Toby, I got a burst of inspiration.

"Hey bro," I said, attempting to sound natural. "Do you know anybody who can write poems and stuff?"

He paused his game and looked back at me, confusion painting his face. "Uh…why are you asking?"

"Just some homework for school," I said, crossing my fingers behind my back and hoping that he wouldn't see through my fib.

He scrunched up his nose. "Well I don't know about poetry but Wilkie does write some pretty good songs,"

"Wilkie?" I said incredulously. "Are you sure?"

He shrugged. "You asked,"

I trudged back upstairs, not quite believing it. Wilkie? I didn't even know he had a vocabulary.

In the end, I texted him. I really wanted to write a poem for reasons unknown even to myself. I let a little of my pride and dignity go as I pressed send on my message.

_Hey Wilkie can u come over? –Bay_

My phone pinged with a reply a few seconds later.

_Sure thing. Does Toby need me or something?_

_No, I need some help._

I prayed to God that Toby wasn't lying and that Wilkie wouldn't laugh at what I was trying to do.

I didn't bother to change out of my white shirt and sweatpants. It was Wilkie, after all. I'd known since him since I was about five and I've always felt comfortable with him. I did take out the bras that were hanging on the doorknob of my bathroom. I didn't want to be embarrassed by the King of Humiliating Others himself. I did put on some mascara and concealer. That pimple was getting worse and worse.

Half an hour later, a knock came on my door and I opened it to find Wilkie looking puzzled.

"Hey," I said, inviting him inside my room. I kept my door open four inches though. Dad had implemented the no-doors-closed-when-with-friends-the-opposite-gender rule a few years back when Toby got a girlfriend. Pretty funny, huh? My dorky brother getting himself a girlfriend. Of course, his girlfriend was Caroline Hamilton and don't let her pretty name fool you. She looked like horse and had the intelligence equivalent to an ostrich.

"So what's up?"

"Can you write songs?" I blurted out. Yup, Bay Kennish was never one for small talk or subtlety.

"Uh yeah…I guess so," Wilkie said, looking more and more awkward by the minute.

"I'm trying to write a poem…or a song…I don't know, it depends. I'm stuck though and I need…uh…help," I said, scratching the back of my head and cracking my knuckles.

"Cool," Wilkie said in a relaxed manner, holding out his hand to me. "Let me see it then. Where did you get stuck?"

"Uh…second line?"

He snickered as I hand him the yellow pad. He narrows his eyes as he tries to decipher my messy handwriting but he finally sits down next to me on the bed and grabs a stray pencil.

Two hours later, we've finished the poem. Or song, whatever you want to call it. We're both tired, our brains fried and the bursts of inspiration that came earlier have all disintegrated. Regardless, we're both smiling and feeling proud of our song.

"Can I use this?" Wilkie asks me, holding up the piece of paper where we had written it.

"For what?" I ask blankly

He shrugs. "For Guitarface,"

My heart beats fast. "You can but you have to promise to never tell anyone that I helped you write it,"

"Sure," He folds the paper neatly and places it in his pocket then turns to look at me. His voice softens as he says, "It's about him, isn't it? Emmett?"

I pause; not really knowing what to answer but my hesitation seemed a good enough reply to him. Wilkie stands up and runs his hand through his hair. "Well this has been a very good day, Ms. Kennish. And now I really must leave you to your own devices,"

His British accent impersonation makes me laugh but just as he's going out, I suddenly say, "Were you thinking of Daphne when you were writing this?"

His shoulder muscles stiffen and he turns to look at me, his eyes and face unreadable. His expression wavers a little but he grits his teeth.

"I don't know," He says simply.

And he's out of my room.

0000-0000

_**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**_

I groan, the infernal beeping of my alarm clock rousing me from my sleep. I glance at it, 7:03. I still have an hour before school.

I decide to take a shower to clear my head instead of going back to sleep. I put on my school uniform and grabbed my backpack, heading downstairs where the delicious aroma of fried eggs and bacon was coming from. 7:32. I was making great time.

I can hear Toby singing in the shower as I pass by his room and Dad rummaging around his closet as I pass the master's bedroom. Mom, as usual, is already downstairs, humming to herself as she neatly slides a perfectly cooked egg on my plate.

"Good morning Bay!" She says good-naturedly. "Aren't you an early riser today?"

"My alarm clock should be smashed," I said sweetly. My good mood evaporated as quickly as it had come. Like I said, I was never a morning person.

"Only a few more weeks until the masquerade!" Mom goes and neatly places a large X on the calendar. I groan, getting nauseous at the thought of that stupid ball. Jake was going to be my date so I was okay…I guess.

I gobble down my egg, feeling myself getting grouchier and grouchier by the minute. "You know what, Mom? I really have to get going. I promised to meet Toria for some early revising for my Biology quiz later on," Lies came to me easily nowadays. Toria was a friend, not a very close friend though. She hung out with Clover but she was a very nice girl…when she was away from the devil in Prada. There was no Biology quiz either.

"Good luck on your quiz!" Mom calls after me as I grab my keys and head towards my car. I slam the front door, just in time to hear Toby dragging himself downstairs.

As I insert the key into the ignition, my phone pings with a message. It's from Jake, asking him if I could pick him up since his car broke down. I reply with a yes even though my eyes are rolling and I quickly realize that I didn't know where he lived.

I text him back, asking him for his address but he says if I could just pick him up in Starbucks. I shrug and swing the car towards the coffee house. It's on the way to school and I might as well pick up some coffee.

Jake's waiting for me by the entrance, his tie all askew and holding two coffees and a small brown bag. He jumps into my car and we roar off. He hands me a cup of coffee and I smile at him.

"What's in the bag?" I ask, taking my eyes off the road for a second.

"A croissant. Want some?" He offers me the bread after he takes a bite off it. I shake my head no. I was already full from the breakfast that Mom made me.

"Oh yeah! I forgot. I made you this," Jake takes out a slim CD case from his bag, a bright silver CD inside. "It's a mix of songs that I thought you'd like,"

I burst out laughing. "Why'd you make me one?"

He shrugs and smacks me lightly on the shoulder. "I was bored yesterday!" He leans over and inserts the CD into my stereo. As he's doing so, his collar pulls away from his neck and I see a large purple bruise.

"What's that?" I ask

"What?" He says innocently as the first chords of a song plays out from my stereo

"That," And I take a hand off the steering wheel and point at his shoulder where the bruise is showing.

"Uh…I ran into a pole," He says nervously, fidgeting with his collar and dropping it back into place, hiding the bruise.

I sigh but I realize that he doesn't want to talk about it so I drop it.

He sings along with the song. I recognize it, _Wonderwall_ by Oasis and I laugh at how surprisingly well his voice sounds.

He slides out the CD, neatly packing it into its case as soon as the song is finished. He unzips the front pocket on my bag and slips in it, smiling in satisfaction as he does so. We enter the school's parking lot and I settle the Thing into a free parking slot. I kill the ignition and we sit in silence for a little while.

"What really happened to you?" I ask, not daring to look at him. I settle for looking straight ahead instead, casually observing the students who are making their way to the entrance of the school yet keeping Jake in the corner of my vision as well. I see that his lips are pressed together tightly and his fists are clenched, settled on his lap. He sits rigidly, his eyes all dark and brooding and it's a few minutes before he answers.

"Nothing. I ran into a pole. Thanks for the ride," He says tightly. He unlocks the door and steps outside, adjusting his tie and collar before walking leisurely. After a few paces, however, he breaks into a full-on sprint, his backpack thudding behind him, the wind blowing in his hair.

I close my eyes and hit myself on the forehead. Thanks to my habit of not thinking before speaking, I might just have lost the closest friend I ever had.

No wonder my life is so pathetic.

**~~~~~VVV~~~~~**

**DAPHNE**

_**Hi. What are you doing here?**_ I sign at Wilkie eagerly. He's standing in front of me, leaning casually against his car, his arms crossed before him. His muscles stand out in his tight uniform and I feel the other students' gazes on him. Female students to put it more specifically. He doesn't notice, however. He only continues to smirk at me.

"I woke up early and came by to give you something," He speaks slowly, giving me time to read his lips. His soft, pink-as-a-rose lips that I had kissed not long ago. That was one of the best kisses in my life. True, I had kissed my best friend but having my lips in contact with Emmett's didn't send up any sparks. I had felt nothing, only the guilt eating away from me. I knew that I was wrong in doing it and even confronting Bay about it, rubbing it into her face that I had kissed Emmett. I knew that I was the reason why they had broken up but before I could apologize, the whole thing had spiraled out of control and I could only retreat and blame myself.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and broke out of my thoughts to find Wilkie staring confusedly at me. "Daphne?"

_**Oh sorry, what?**_

He opens his car door and bends down, retrieving something from the inside. His button-up shirt rides up as he does so, exposing a small stripe of skin. Seeing that tanned flesh sends a warm feeling coursing into me and I inwardly kick myself. Why the heck am I feeling this way?

Wilkie straightens up again, nearly bumping his head on the roof of his car and turns to me, smiling widely although nervously. He's holding a huge bunch of roses, all yellow and plump wrapped in a creamy mauve paper.

"I…thought you might…ah…like this," I read his lips, mesmerized by their movement. He runs a hand through his sandy blonde hair, causing a few locks to fall on to his forehead.

_**They're beautiful! **_I sign, knowing that my face looks awestruck by now. I had never seen flowers as flawless as these and at the back of my mind, I know that these must be expensive but I push those thoughts away. Why had Wilkie gotten me these? I knew that I had been a jerk to him lately, turning down his invitation to go the Masquerade together and all that so I certainly didn't deserve his small gifts. So why had he bought them?

_**Any reason why you gave me flowers? **_I say, trying to make my voice sound as lighthearted as possible. Of course, with my inability to hear, I'm not really sure whether I succeeded in that venture or not.

He shrugs, looking pleased that I had accepted his flowers and was now holding it to my nose, sniffing at it delicately. "I saw them in a flower shop and thought of you,"

As soon as I finish deciphering his words, it sends a thrill through me. He had thought of me! Me! I had been in his mind when a dozen other girls more perfect than I was could have been! I try to control my thoughts but fail miserably.

He brings his watch up to his eyes and winces. "I need to go. Bye Daph,"

I wave at him, nothing more than a casual twirl of my fingers when inside, I wanted to hug him. I mouth thank you at him, watching his lips curve up in a small smile. He backs away from the curb and I turn away, heading for the school's doors, feeling dizzy with happiness.

**Who was he? **One of my best girl friends, Carrie Skye, signs excitedly as she catches up with me. I am aware of a few looks from other people, envious ones from nearly all the girls but I don't care. I'm just so freaking content right now.

I shift the bouquet so I could sign freely. **Just this guy I know. He's a guitarist in the band that Emmett plays drums in.**

**Well whoever he is, you are so lucky! Whoops, gotta go! Bye Daph! **

I can't help musing over what Carrie said and agreeing with her. Despite of all the confusion and sorrow that has happened over the past few months, I am pretty lucky to still have friends. And I am most certainly fortunate to have Wilkie…

**Hey Daph. Who gave you those?** Emmett catches up with me as I am opening my locker with much difficulty since the bouquet is really big. I find myself smiling up at him but I notice the purple circles under his eyes and the tired smile that is pasted on his face.

**Wilkie came by to give them to me earlier. **I sign cautiously. Emmett hadn't really liked Wilkie when they first met, casting him off as a pompous, arrogant jerk who had a loaded up bank account and rich parents to back him up. I knew that he and Wilkie had come to good terms because of the band, though, but I still didn't know if he still had his previous feelings towards him.

He smiles at me, still looking fatigued and I wonder whether he's sick…or just wondering about Bay again. I know how much he loves her and I think about mentioning her name but I know that it wouldn't help. He would just go on brooding the rest of the day.

**Be careful Daph…Heartbreak is a very…serious thing…**

I nod at him, showing him that I had understood his intentions. He didn't want me to end up either like him or Bay, all depressed and putting up a façade for other people to see. I was his best friend and he didn't want this happening to me. I was thankful for that.

He nods at me and walks off but I still continue to stare after him.

I have to get him and Bay back together again.


End file.
